West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar should be removed, five lawmakers from the Trinamool Congress have written to President Ram Nath Kovind, citing a political bias against the Mamata Banerjee government and violations of the constitution.
Mr Dhankhar "has engineered to destabilize the State Government machinery as a whole", Trinamool MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Derek O'Brien, Kalyan Banerjee, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said in a letter sharply critical of the governor.
An angry governor shot back, claiming free and fair elections are not held in the state and that it is his duty to ensure people exercise their franchise without fear.
The appeal to the president to act against Mr Dhankhar comes amid an increasingly shrill political atmosphere in Bengal ahead of elections that sees the governor helping the BJP with near-daily attacks on the government.
"Interminable critical tweets and statements directed against the West Bengal Government, the Hon'ble Chief Minister, AITC - with a political bias - are likely to cause law and order problem. Besides, such tendencies and inclinations on the part of the Constitutional head of the State to openly support a political party strikes at the very root of federalism," the MPs wrote.
They accused Mr Dhankhar of "transgressing" upon other authorities like the Election Commission and Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
"Seeking apology from the Hon'ble Chief Minister of the State on an unfortunate incident on BJP President's convoy is another transgression by the Governor," they wrote referring to the attack on BJP chief JP Nadda's convoy earlier this month.
"Hon'ble Shri Dhankhar has also not spared the State Legislature. He is sitting tight and refuses to sign a number of Bills passed by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Not only is he not signing the bills, he is even asking for "explanations" from the Hon'ble Speaker. This is a direct insult and attack on the Sovereignty of the State Legislature," they said.
A representative of the central government to the state, the Bengal governor has squarely placed himself as an antagonist to Mamata Banerjee since his appointment last year and frequently props up the BJP's protracted campaign to unseat the Chief Minister.
Reacting to the letter, Mr Dhankhar said, "Free and fair elections without fear are not held (in the state)". The governor said it does not concern him for whom the people vote, but it is his duty to make sure that they get to exercise their franchise without any intimidation.
The BJP said the governor is acting within his constitutional parameters while the Trinamool Congress "is scared".
"I don't think the TMC's action of moving the President for the removal of the governor will have any impact. The President will go by his own understanding of the governor's role," BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said.
"The governor is acting within his constitutional parameters as the head of the state. The TMC is doing this as it is scared," the senior BJP leader added.
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