Mahua Moitra calls governor 'uncleji' again, tells him to buy toy soldiers

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has had a tempestuous relationship with the Mamata Banerjee government ever since he moved into the Raj Bhavan in July 2019.

Dhankhar has never hesitated from pulling up the Trinamool Congress government and his Twitter handle has been the preferred medium for this. Unsurprisingly, Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress leaders have not held back from responding to the governor.

On Thursday, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra took a jibe at Dhankhar, calling him "uncleji". Moitra was responding to a tweet from Dhankhar in which he alleged he received no guard of honour from the police and district officials in Cooch Behar district. Dhankhar tweeted, "The district administration at Coochbehar @MamataOfficial was  in breach of protocol. There was no guard of honour @WBPolice and DM and SP @HomeBengal were absent. All indications of politicised working visible."

Dhankhar was in Cooch Behar on Thursday as part of his month-long visit of north Bengal. During the visit, Dhankhar had alleged "public servants have become political workers" and this was a reason for political violence not abating in the state.

Moitra responded to Dhankhar's tweet, stating, "Can someone please tell Hon’ble Uncleji that DMs & SPs have actual jobs & have better things to do than pay obeisance to him while he vacations. Want a guard of honour? Buy some Lego toy soldiers."

This is not the first time Moitra has taken a jibe at Dhankhar. On November 9, she referred to Dhankhar as uncleji when criticising Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for intervening in the arrest of Arnab Goswami. Moitra tweeted, "Uncleji in Kolkata Raj Bhavan now has a close competitor- Maha Governor calls Home Min to check on @BJP’s favourite spokesperson Soon we’ll need a third House in parliament to reward all the ex-governors."

In June, Moitra accused Dhankhar of firing "BJP arrows" at the state government over an alleged  incident of dumping of bodies of COVID-19 patients. Moitra had tweeted, "GovernorWB back to firing BJP arrows at state govt which is handling covid, amphan & migrant return smoothly all at once. A (rotten)  apple never falls far from the tree.."

Dhankhar had hit back at Moitra over the comment and accused her of attempting to curry favour with Mamata Banerjee. Dhankhar wrote, "After being in firing line for letting CORRUPTION CAT out by revealing HYDRA HEADED CORRUPTION in panchayats- now trying to curry favour @MamataOfficial by taking on Governor. Not the only one in such state of helplessness! Sad and concerned at captivity of these worthy leaders!"

Moitra responded to Dhankhar’s tweet, addressing him as uncleji. She tweeted on June 13, “Uncleji- 3 points: 1. BJP elevates leaders based on amount of blood they have on hands. TMC rewards hard work 2. Your legal career wasn’t very luminous - at least try & keep dignity of RajBhavan during Tenure 3. You can always context next Rajasthan polls. Keep fit for that.”

In May, Moitra declared "basic reading" of the Constitution was a must for a governor. "“Situation Vacant- 1 post of Governor for State of WB. Qualifications required- 1. BASIC reading of Constitution 2. Ability to respect dignity of office & not shoot mouth off indiscriminately 3. Modicum of self respect in daily life w/o fawning over political masters shamelessly," she tweeted.

Her tweet was in response to Dhankhar's criticism of the Mamata Banerjee government's handling of the COVID-19 situation and other policies in West Bengal.