Bengal speaker flays Guv for “sitting” over bill to bifurcate Howrah civic body

Kolkata: West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee Thursday slammed Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar for not giving assent to the bifurcation of the Howrah Municipal Corporation bill, accusing the Raj Bhavan occupant of sitting over it.

The Howrah Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which proposes to separate Bally Municipality from the jurisdiction of the HMC, was passed by the state assembly last year.

Dhankhar, however, is yet to give his assent to the bill. He has sought more inputs regarding it from the state government.

”The governor is sitting over it (the bill)… people residing in the area have not been getting proper civic services,” Banerjee told reporters.

”A decision on the bill taken by the state cabinet and passed in the state assembly can’t be put on hold by the governor. Every time he comes to the assembly, Dhankhar says he has cleared all the bills, but the fact is something different,” he said.