West Bengal Chief Secretary Hari Krishna Dwivedi on Tuesday called on Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar in connection with the summoning of the Budget Session of the State Assembly on March 7 at 2 p.m.
Prior to this the Governor informed that late last evening a file containing the February 28 Cabinet decision seeking to summon the Assembly on March 7 at 2. 00 p.m. was received from the government for consideration by the Governor.
“Chief Secretary Hari Krishna Dwivedi, who called on Hon’ble Governor Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar today in connection with summoning of Assembly at 2 p.m. on March 07 in pursuance to February 28 Cabinet decision, has been directed to respond in writing to the issues flagged,” the Governor said on social media.
The earlier Cabinet recommendation sent to the Governor on February 21 had a typographical error where instead of urging the Governor to summon the House on March 7 at 2 p.m. the note referred to 2 a.m. on March 7. The Governor asked for a fresh Cabinet recommendation which came on February 28.
Later in the day the Governor said that he had observed “transgression on rules of business” in the Cabinet recommendation sent to him on February 28 and asked the State’s Chief Secretary to reply in writing. Mr. Dhankhar said as and when “the response will come, the matter will be addressed by me in the true spirit of Constitution”.
“My purpose is to make the Constitution work in sublimity. My purpose is that government falls in constitutional groove,” he added.
The development indicates that the deadlock on resuming the Budget Session of the State Assembly seems far from over. During the day Mr. Dhankhar met former Meghalaya Governor and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Tathagata Roy. Mr. Roy has been one of the critics of the West Bengal BJP after the party’s debacle in the 2021 Assembly polls.
