"He's A Tall Man": Mamata Banerjee's Dig After Bengal Governor's Tweets

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday refused to comment on a series of tweets by Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar that have been critical of the state government's handling of the coronavirus crisis.

"He is a tall man. We are small people. The less said about him the better," she said.

The Chief Minister is clearly displeased that the Governor has made adverse remarks about the ongoing controversy over the visit of two central teams to Bengal to examine COVID-19 lockdown violations and dilution. He has also commented on what has described as a ration scam and the state's alleged attempt to throttle attempts by BJP MPs to send relief material to remote places.

In one of his latest tweets, Governor Dhankhar said, "Appeal to Mamta Banerjee to be in tandem with Narendra Modi in the interest of the state."

Another tweet on Tuesday said, "My request to CM MB to synergetically co-operate with the central team @pmo to wean away the miseries of the people. cooperation and not confrontation between centre and state must."

"Sent communication to Mamta Banerjee official to abide by constitution. Such continued disregard of constitution cannot be countenanced. There can be no situation of law unto oneself. Her stance is weakening the fight against covid-19. There is no rationale for such undemocratic attitude (sic)" he wrote.

Asked about his latest tweets at a news briefing on Wednesday, Ms Banerjee said, "He is right feet tall, we are fight feet tall."

BJP leader Dilip Ghosh reacted to these comments saying, "Unable to answer the governor's pointed questions, the chief minister is making personal attacks against him. That reveals a lot of things about those who make such comments."

Ms Banerjee and Mr Dhankhar have not been on the best of terms. The COVID-19 crisis has almost pitted one against the other afresh.