KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday asked state ministers to concentrate on their departments instead of reacting to his statements to please their "boss".
He said either Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should herself react to his statements or depute a specific minister for the purpose.
"All ministers should stop reacting to my statements just to please their boss (Banerjee) and concentrate on their departments."
"I have heard junior Health Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya reacting to my comments. I would request her to concentrate on her department as all of us are aware of the real condition of the department," he told reporters.
The governor's statement came a day after he was shown black flags allegedly by some Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers on his way to Domkal in Murshidabad district to attend an event on Wednesday.
Dhankhar said he had sought a helicopter from the state government to travel to Murshidabad district but there was no response.
"Actually the state government wants to control my movement. But let me make it very clear that whatever I am doing, it is well within my constitutional limits. Others can't dictate me," Dhankhar had said.
Reacting to Dhankhar's statement, Chandrima Bhattacharya had said that the governor should not exceed his brief.
"He should ponder over what he has been doing since assuming charge as the governor. What he is doing doesn't behove the post of the governor. The people of the state are angry, so a few may have protested against him," she had said.
The governor and the state government have been locked in a war of words on a number of issues ranging from Dhankhar's seating arrangement at the Durga Puja carnival to comments on his security since he rushed to Jadavpur University to "rescue" Union minister Babul Supriyo, who was heckled and manhandled by some students.
A tussle had also erupted over the state government's refusal to provide a helicopter sought by Dhankhar to travel to Farakka in Murshidabad district and Santiniketan in Birbhum district last week.