I welcome CM Mamata to stage dharna inside Raj Bhavan: Bengal Guv

Kolkata, Sep 7 (IANS) West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee can stage a protest demonstration within the premises of Raj Bhavan in Kolkata  and not outside and he would welcome her.

The Chief Minister on September 5 on the occasion of Teachers’ Day function had said that she would hold a protest outside the Raj Bhavan.

“The chief minister is my honoured colleague. She is welcome to Raj Bhavan. She can come inside Raj Bhavan and stage all her protest demonstrations there. She can come as the honoured guest of Raj Bhavan to demonstrate here,” the Governor said in a five-minute short video released on Wednesday morning soon after his return to Kolkata from New Delhi.

On September 5, the chief minister launched a scathing attack against the Governor for this decision to appoint interim vice- chancellors for 16 state universities in West Bengal without discussion or concurrence of the state government.

There the chief minister also said that if necessary she will stage a protest demonstration in front of Raj Bhavan and economic blockade for those universities who will operate as per directions of the Governor, who by virtue of his chair is also the chancellor of all state universities.

On Wednesday, the Governor reacted to that and said that despite welcoming the chief minister at Raj Bhavan, he will not make any compromise in protecting the autonomous nature of the state universities.

“Why I had to appoint interim vice chancellors for so many state universities? That was because the previous vice- chancellors had to resign as per the order of the Supreme Court of India because their appointments were not as per norms. I did not ask them to resign. They resigned themselves following the apex court’s order.

"Now you might ask why did not appoint state- nominated persons as vice chancellors. Some of those nominated persons were either involved in corruption while others have charges of harassing female students. How could I appoint them as vice- chancellors?” the Governor questioned.

Bose also alleged that the interim vice-chancellors appointed by him are facing tremendous pressure from a section of the state bureaucrats backed by the state government as a result of which some of them resigned unable to bear the pressure.

“Five such interim vice- chancellors resigned and they told me the kind of pressure they were facing,” he said.

However, Trinamool Congress’ state spokesman in West Bengal, Kunal Ghosh described the Governor’s statement as a “scripted drama,” directed by the BJP leadership.

“The Governor is trying to confuse everyone and thus collapsing the education system in the state. This is the real agenda of BJP,” Ghosh said.

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