Stalin dubs Dhankhar proroguing Assembly sans 'propriety'

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday criticised West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar for proroguing the Assembly session termed his action as one that “goes against established norms and conventions.”

In a series of tweets, Stalin also said the “symbolic” head of the state should be the role model to uphold the constitution. The TN CM’s attack comes amid a battle his government is engaged with Governor R N Ravi over a bill that seeks exemption from NEET for students from the state.

Also read: Proroguing Assembly: What it means and under what circumstances does it happen?

Stalin, who ensured that a Bill returned by the Governor was re-enacted by the Assembly within a week, has been attacking Ravi in his speeches during the campaign for urban local bodies seeking to know how can an “appointed” person return a Bill passed by representatives of 8 crore people of the state.

“The act of West Bengal Governor to prorogue the WB Assembly Session is without any propriety expected from the exalted post and goes against the established norms and conventions. The 'symbolic' head of the state should be the role model to uphold the constitution. Beauty of democracy lies in extending mutual respect to each other,” Stalin said.

Within hours, Dhankhar posted a response on his verified Twitter page terming Stalin’s statement as “extremely harsh and hurtful.”

“Find it unusually expedient to respectfully invite indulgent attention of TN CM @mkstalin that his extremely harsh hurtful observations are not in the least in conformity with facts- attached order. Assembly was prorogued at express request,” he wrote.

Dhankhar had on February 12 prorogued the Assembly maintaining that his action came at the request of the state government. However, the move led to speculation whether it was yet another fallout of the tussle between Dhankhar and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

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