CRPF cover to Bengal Governor: Why weren’t we consulted TMC govt asks MHA

Kolkata, Oct 23: The West Bengal government has urged the Union Home Ministry to reconsider its decision on entrusting the security of Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar with the CRPF, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The state government, in a letter to the MHA, has also sought to know the reasons why it was not consulted before the decision to hand over the governor's security to the CRPF was taken. "It is the responsibility of the state government to look after the security of the governor since he is the constitutional head of the state.

"The state government has provided him with "Z" category security since the first day of his appointment. Then, why did the MHA suddenly decide to entrust his security with the CRPF without consulting us," a senior official of the state Secretariat told PTI.

The official said the state government's security arrangements are foolproof and the MHA has been urged to rethink the issue. Dhankhar took oath as the governor of West Bengal on July 30.

The MHA on October 15 had issued an order, directing the CRPF to take charge of Dhankhar's security that will be valid in all parts of the country. Though it is more than a week since the MHA notification was issued, the CRPF personnel are yet to take over the security of the governor at the Raj Bhavan.

Meetings between senior officers of the state police and the paramilitary force on laying of the new security design had ended inconclusively, making it difficult for the CRPF to take charge of the governor's security.

Sources at the Governor's office said communication was sent to the state government to upgrade the governor's security from Z to Z+ category after his vehicle was blocked inside the Jadavpur University campus allegedly by its students when he went there to 'rescue' Union Minister Babul Supriyo in September.

Only Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee get Z+ security in the state.