Governor of West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday said he had taken exception to the “blackout of his address to the Assembly on February 7, 2020”.
“This was in sharp departure from the healthy practice of live coverage of the address of the Governor on earlier occasions. Further, the media was also kept away. Governor Dhankhar takes this as intolerant act and violation of the right of the people. This also compromises the right to expression,” a press statement from the Raj Bhavan said.
On the first day of the Budget session on February 7, the Governor addressed the Assembly. While mediapersons were allowed inside the Assembly, his speech was not telecast live. The Governor, who had stuck to the line of the State government, described not telecasting his speech as “crucification of democratic values”. Referring to the live telecast of the Budget speech of Finance Minister Amit Mitra, Mr. Dhankhar said this “situation makes discrimination apparent”.
“All over the country there is an increasing transparency of the proceedings of the House. It is for the Legislature, the Executive and the Media to engage in soul searching as regards this kind of media muzzling and censorship,” the press statement quoted the Governor as saying.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to comment when asked about the remarks made by the Governor. She said the matters concerns the Assembly and the Speaker.
