West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is at loggerheads with the TMC Government in the State, on Friday hit out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for “humiliating” him “on every occasion” and not briefing him regularly.

This will only “belittle” her own stature, Dhankhar told PTI in an interview and urged Banerjee, for whom he professed “enormous respect”, to introspect and find the way forward. The governor also slammed Speaker Biman Banerjee for “violating protocol” by inviting him to speak at the Constitution Day special session in the Assembly on November 26 after other dignitaries.

“Have you ever seen in any part of India that a governor of a state (is) being asked to address the Assembly in a queue at number five and precedence being given to former governor (M K Naryanan), former Lok Sabha speaker (Meira Kumar) and former chief election commissioner (S Y Quraishi)?

“This is a gross violation of protocol. Suffering this great indignity, looking at the importance of the day I went... His conduct leaves much to be desired.” Dhankhar said.

Keeping up his attack against Mamata Banerjee, he said under the Constitution the CM is obliged to brief the governor but he has not been informed by Banerjee even once. “It is her constitutional duty as chief minister to brief the governor,” he asserted.

“After Cyclone Bulbul, I wrote a letter to her asking her to brief me. But most unfortunately it was replied by the principal home secretary. I take exception to such kind of conduct. My communication to the Chief Minister has to be replied only by her and none else,” Dhankar said.

Refuting allegations against him that he is crossing his “constitutional limits” and is “trying to run a parallel government”, the governor challenged the TMC Government to cite one instance of it.

“I am working as per the Constitution. It is not my job to run the Government. But it is my job to ensure that the Government is run in accordance with the Constitution. If there is violation of the Constitution anywhere, I will step in. Her (Banerjee’s) oath is allegiance to the Constitution, my oath is to protect the Constitution,” he said.

The governor raked up the alleged disrespect shown to him at the State Government-sponsored Durga Puja carnival and at the November 26 special session of Assembly on Constitution Day and asked Banerjee to think about it.

“Such behaviour is unworthy of her (Banerjee’s) stature and her position ... While I may have been humiliated this has resulted in the belittling of her own stature. I am sure given her experience she will reflect, think of a way forward with constructive approach,” Dhankhar, who is a former parliamentarian himself, said.