Once again, Tathagata Roy has courted controversy. In his tweet on the Amarnath Yatra being put on hold in the aftermath of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani’s killing, the Tripura Governor has recalled late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s apparent warning of stopping the Haj pilgrimage if the Yatra was suspended.

This provoked a reaction from Salman Soz, a media panellist of the Indian National Congress, who tagged the Prime Minister and the President asking how long “this bigot” would serve “at your pleasure”.

Not to be outdone, Roy asked Soz to understand the “anguish” of Kashmiri Pandits “u drove out” (sic):

Soz then advised Roy to “respect” the office of the Governor.

At this point, Roy pointed out that he had been given the additional charge of Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, perhaps to boast of the support he enjoyed from the Central government.

When Soz lectured Roy to focus on his work instead of acting as a spokesperson of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Tripura Governor once again asked Soz about Pandits.

Later, Roy clarified that it was not his personal view that Hajj be stopped in “retaliation” to the suspension of Amarnath Yatra.

An engineer-turned-professor-turned-politician and RSS volunteer, Roy has a long history of posting communal tweets on his timeline. When he was appointed the Governor of Tripura in May, 2015, he lamented the fact that he would not be able to post any more “political tweets”.

However, going by the numerous controversies he has sparked off with his tweets even after his appointment, it is clear that he has found it hard to desist from commenting on political developments. Clearly, it can be hard for a firebrand, right-wing Twitter activist to also hold the Constitutional position of a Governor. Roy’s tweet below sums up his angst: