Have written thrice to PM Narendra Modi to withdraw Dhankhar as governor: Mamata Banerjee

Dhankhar, who has shared a strained relationship with the Trinamool Congress government since taking charge as the governor of the state in 2019, is in the national capital on a four-day trip. He has not specified any reason for the visit. The governor met Union ministers Prahlad Joshi and Prahlad Singh Patel on Wednesday.

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday took a dig at Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's New Delhi visit as she said a "child can be cajoled into silence" but not an elderly man, noting that she has thrice written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw him from the state. Calling the governor a "Centre's man", Banerjee refrained from commenting much on his meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind and several other union ministers in Delhi. "What can I say? A child can be cajoled into silence. In this case, speech is silver; silence is golden," she said. Asked about media reports suggesting that the governor might be removed, Banerjee said she is not aware of any such development. "How do I know? When a governor is appointed, the state government is consulted. That, however, was not done in this case... I have written twice or thrice to the Prime Minister seeking his withdrawal from the state," she said.