I stopped being a BJP man when I was sworn in, says Tathagata Roy
Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy, who stirs up quite a controversy with his tweets, got into a major spat on Tuesday with Trinamool Congress lawmaker Derek O'Brien. The Governor who was with Bengal BJP has had many a run-ins with the Trinamool but the latest provocation was the government denying permission to the event of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat in Kolkata in October.
So when he tweeted his disapproval by saying "Those who canceled Mahajati Sadan booking are so sick, no courage to say out loud the real reason. Instead, they give the stupidest of excuses", Derek O'Brien immediately shot back "Is this man really the Governor of a state?"
Speaking to NDTV, the Governor said there was never a problem with tweeting in a constitutional position like his. When asked if his tweets may be showing his affiliation, he said "I have stopped being a BJP member once I was sworn in but there is nothing that says that I can't be part of social organisations. RSS is a social organisation. I am also a member of Ram Krishna mission. Shall I stop that?"
When NDTV pointed out his old tweet where he quoted SP Mookerjie as saying that the Hindu-Muslim issue cannot be solved without a civil war, a tweet which the opposition quoted while demanding his removal, Governor Tathagata Roy refused to respond to individual tweets. But he asserted he was going to keep tweeting his mind.
The Mahajati Sadan, run by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee government, was booked in May for a programme on October 3 to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Sister Nivedita - an Irish social worker who spent her life in India as a disciple of Swami Vivekananda. The BJP has alleged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government is trying to scuttle the programme out of "vengeance".