CHIEF MINISTER AND GOVERNOR: AN OVERVIEW OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP AND ROLE IN WEST BENGAL

Abstract

This Paper seeks to study the relationship between the Governor and the chief minister. According to the constitution, the chief minister is the de facto executive while the Governor is the de jure executive of the states. However, there have been several incidents and events which showcase conflicts between the two heads. Here we will particularly take the case of West Bengal. It tries to analyse the source of conflict between the two constitutional heads and takes into account the history of feud way back to 1967 when the clash took place between governor Dharma Vira and chief minister Ajay Mukherjee over a demand to prove majority of the United Front within three days. The conflict did not stop here. It went on to take a ugly turn in 1977 when the Left Front came to power. There was not at all a healthy relationship between the governor and the chief minister during the regime of the Left Front who had ruled for thirty two long years in West Bengal. Things did not change even in 2011 when a new government of Trinamool Congress came to power in West Bengal under the leadership of Mrs. Mamata Banerjee. At present there are disagreements on practically every issue between the governor and the chief minister. Both the governor and the chief minister are engaged at throwing allegations against each other and undermine each other’s positions. Sugata Bose, Professor of History at Harvard University had commented that the origin of conflict between the chief minister and governor lies in the politics of different parties in power at the state and the central government. It is very important that both the governor and the chief minister jointly administer the state, cooperate with each other, know their constitutional bounds and rules and help each other in making the democracy run very strong and successful.