Kolkata: Trinamool Congress on Monday came down heavily on Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar for his comments against the state government and said "instead of demeaning the post he holds, he should take over as the BJP state president". Dhankhar on Monday claimed that the TMC government has turned West Bengal into a "police state" and said he would be forced to "look at" Article 154 of the Constitution as his office has been ignored for long by the ruling dispensation. Article 154 of the Constitution mandates that the executive power of the state shall be vested in the Governor and shall be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him. "Instead of demeaning the post of the governor, he should take over as state BJP president. If BJP or opposition parties say such a thing, it is acceptable. But such comments coming from a governor is unfortunate. He is tarnishing the post of the governor for his vested political interests. We condemn this," senior TMC leader Subrata Mukherjee said. Governor Dhankhar, who had several run-ins with the state government, said he will no longer tolerate the TMC governments attempt to "compromise Raj Bhawan". Meanwhile, the state government has turned down the Raj Bhavans request to release an additional fund of Rs 53 lakh for its upkeep. The state Home Secretary in a letter to the secretary to the Governor Satish Tewari has expressed the inability to release the fund because of financial crunch due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All the state government departments have taken austerity measures to tide over the financial crisis. The state government has allocated Rs 16 crore to Raj Bhavan for 2020- 2021. Except monthly salary and pension the state Finance department has curtailed the expenditure of every department. Raj Bhavan had urged the state government to release Rs 87 lakhs for its upkeep, entertainment and other purpose. The state government has cut it down to Rs 34 lakhs. A senior Trinamool leader said Raj Bhavan should understand the crises the state government was facing to fight the pandemic, Amphan. The Centre had released only Rs 1,000 crore for Amphan where as the estimated loss would be around Rs 1 lakh thousand crore. The leader said: "Knowing the situation the Governor has deliberately raised the demand and will put his view in the social media."

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