Bengal Guv seeks info on funds used for anti CAA campaign

Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has demanded information from the state government on alleged misuse of public funds on an advertisement campaign against the CAA and the authorities who sanctioned it, official sources said on Saturday. The governor's office has sent a letter to the principal secretary, Information and Cultural Affairs, to submit a detailed response about the money spent on the campaign against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), they said.

In a communication to the government on February 4, the sources said, Dhankhar took exception to the spending of "crores of rupees" on advertisements in print and visual media with a tagline "No CAA, No NRC, No NPR". Concerns were also raised about the involvement of senior administrative and police functionaries, including the chief and home secretaries and the DGP, in the ads that appeared by the side of the Chief Minister, they added.

Dhankhar had repeatedly cautioned the West Bengal government that funds from the state exchequer cannot be used for advertisements backing an agitation against a valid law. The Calcutta High Court had also subsequently asked the state government to suspend all such advertisements.

A senior leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), who did not wish to be named, hit out at the governor for crossing his "constitutional brief". "The governor, from the very beginning, has been trying to interfere in matters of the state government. This is completely absurd that he is seeking details (on the alleged misuse of public funds)," the TMC leader said.