West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday wrote a two-page letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, citing rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Suvendu Adhikari’s apprehension that he and his associates may be falsely implicated in criminal cases by the police.
Adhikari, 50, resigned from the state assembly on Wednesday and held a closed-door meeting with some rebel lawmakers for the first time, stoking speculations that Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state on December 19 and 20 could be marked by defections to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Adhikari wrote to Dhankhar on Wednesday evening, seeking protection and expressing fear that he and his associates might be implicated by the police and the administration in “criminal cases out of political motivation and vendetta”.
“Called upon @MamataOfficial to take urgent measures on representation from Former Minister Suvendu Adhikari, apprehending false implication “in criminal cases out of political motivation and vendetta.” Such apprehensions, from one-time associate call for correctional therapy,” Dhankhar tweeted on Thursday and attached a copy of his letter to the chief minister.
“Such apprehensions, emanating from your one-time associate for long, call for introspective reflections and correctional therapy to uphold constitutional values and rule of law,” Dhankhar has written in his letter.
“Undoubtedly politically inspired implication of opponents in criminal cases is slur on democracy apart from being unconstitutional and crime. All allegations of politically motivated implications need to be in sharp focus, micro-managed with involvement of human rights outfits to dispel any perception to the contrary,” he wrote.
Dhankhar also raised other issues, such as appointment of an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer after retirement and inquiry faced by another officer in the past.
TMC leaders or the government had not reacted till the time of filing this report.