“Unethical, wrong”: says CPIM’s Mohd Salim on Bengal Governor sharing photos of ailing Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Twitter

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday posted some pictures of his visit to former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s house in Kolkata’s Palm Avenue. An unwell Bhattacharjee is seen lying on his bed in the pictures tweeted by Dhankhar. The posting of these pictures has led to sharp reactions from Twitter users, and has upset senior leaders of the CPI(M).

The party’s politburo member CPI(M) Mohd Salim on Sunday said it was “wrong and unethical” of the Governor to share the pictures on social media. Mohd Salim said that while it is fine that the Governor called on Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, it is unethical and wrong to share photographs of the visit on social media. “It is not right to share photographs of an ailing person,” Salim said.

This is what Jagdeep Dhankhar posted from his official Twitter account @jdhankhar1 on Saturday: “Alongwith Mrs Sudesh Dhankhar today called on veteran communist leader and former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and his wife Meera ji and wished them subhoy [sic] Ashtami and good health”.

There were several reactions from Twitter users who said that pictures of such private moments should not have been shared. Some have said that they do not wish to see such pictures of Bhattacharjee – lying unwell on bed, and criticised the Governor for sharing such photographs. The photographs have also upset CPI(M) supporters. His pictures have not been published in the media or on social media in recent times. The former CM has always preferred to remain a private person and wanted respect for his privacy even when he was working, fit and active.

Recently, actor Soumitra Chatterjee’s pictures from the hospital bed (who has been admitted to a nursing home since early October) were published in the media and were circulated on social media, making his daughter “upset, sad and heartbroken”, she wrote on Facebook.

[The Bengal Story is not publishing the pictures of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee shared by the Governor. Cover picture from @jdhankhar1 showing Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar outside Bhattacharjee’s house, being greeted by the former CM’s wife, Meera Bhattacharjee.]