Dhankar was named in Hawala-Jain scam chargesheet: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's name had appeared in the Jain hawala case charge sheet in 1996.

Kolkata: The political mud-slinging between West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee and state governor, Jagdeep Dhankar took a horrid turn on Monday where the political debates turned to personal slandering. The chief minister directly charged Dhankar of corruption and alleged that the governor was named in the Hawala-Jain scam chargesheet.

Dhankar had taken over as the state governor in the middle of 2019. Since then there had been several rounds of tussles between him and the state government. Either through his Twitter messages or through media briefings, the government had been vocal against the state government. On the other hand, the ruling Trinamool Congress leadership has resorted to counter-attacks against Dhankar.

That tussle aggravated further since the 2021 state assembly election results were announced. Like state BJP leaders, the governor had also been vocal about allegations of post-poll violence. He personally met the Union home minister, Amit Shah and the President, Ramnath Kovind and complained against the state government on this issue.

While addressing the media persons on Monday at the state secretariat of Nabanna, the chief minister alleged Dhankar’s involvement in corruption and demanded a probe against him. She also demanded that a separate probe be conducted on the expected borne to meet the expenses of the governor’s frequent travels. “He cannot do or speak whatever he desires. I will not tolerate this,” the chief minister said.

Immediately after that, the chief minister referred to the Hawala-Jain scam. “He was named in the chargesheet of the Hawala-Jain scam in 1996. However, later his name was deleted following a court order. After that a public interest litigation was filed on this issue, which is still pending,” the chief minister said.

Claiming that the governor is a corrupt individual, the chief minister further said she will draw the attention of the Union government on this issue. “It has to be seen how a corrupt person like him was offered this chair,” she said.