Mamata vs Dhankhar: In Bengal, fresh row erupts over talk of replacing governor as university chancellor

A couple of days after suggestions were made that he should be replaced from the titular post of Chancellor of state-run universities in West Bengal, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday lashed out at the state government. On Thursday, taking to Twitter, Dhankhar alleged that vice-chancellors of 24 universities in the state, including Kolkata and Jadavpur, had been appointed illegally. He also published a list of those universities by tweeting on Thursday. That list includes universities like Calcutta, Jadavpur, Gaurabanga, Alipurduar, Burdwan.

The state’s education minister Bratya Basu had tweeted on Friday that there was the need to “introspect” on whether the state needs to continue with the colonial legacy of the governor being ex-officio chancellor of all state-run universities and eminent scholars should be appointed instead. He had later suggested to newspersons that the chief minister should be made interim chancellor. War of words in West Bengal “I was astonished that the Education Minister, who should have interacted with me, instead said that the chief minister will be made chancellor,” Dhankhar said after landing at the airport in Kolkata on a week-long visit to north Bengal. “You make the chief minister the governor also in addition to making her the chancellor,” he said sarcastically, terming Basu’s stance as inappropriate. Dhankar had earlier called a meeting of chancellors and vice-chancellors of private universities in the state in his capacity as Visitor on 18 December. However, the meeting had fallen through as most heads of universities had excused themselves. On 20 December, the Governor had called for a meeting with all the chancellors and vice-chancellors of private universities but no one had attended the meet. An attempt to hold the meeting on 23 December also fell through, and the Governor had taken to social media to vent his ire. An earlier attempt by him to call a meeting of vice-chancellors or executive heads of state-run universities had also ended without any bothering to attend. The governor has been claiming in one tweet after another that the vice-chancellors of the universities are not responding to his repeated calls. Dhankhar, who is the principal of all the universities in the state, also complained that the ‘finger of the ruler is not in Helen’. He said, “It is not the law but the reflection of the law of the ruler that is seen in the education system. An atmosphere of fear has been created." Dhankhar also alleged that the manner in which the state government appoints vice-chancellors without the approval of the Acharya is a farce of the law. He also requested the UGC (University Grants Commission) to investigate the matter in a video uploaded on Twitter. This comes against the backdrop of a taut relationship between Banerjee and the Raj Bhavan since Dhankhar’s appointment as the governor in July 2019. More so in the wake of delay by him in giving approval to the name of a state information commissioner, besides friction before clearing several recent Bills passed by the Assembly. Dhankar has had several run-ins with the state government under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on a number of issues and the row over his attempts to exercise his powers as Chancellor. Dhankar also reiterated that he had not given his assent to the Howrah Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, adding that a submission made by the state advocate general before the Calcutta High Court to this effect may be erroneous. “There is no paper, letter, discussion, consideration before the governor with regard to bifurcation of Howrah Municipal Corporation and creation of Bally municipality,” he said. The Governor had earlier said that he had sent back the bill, for excluding areas of erstwhile Bally municipality from Howrah Municipal Corporation, on 24 November with queries which were yet to be answered. “It is wrong for the Advocate General to submit before the high court that the governor has given assent to the bill,” he said. State Advocate General SN Mookherjee on Friday told the Calcutta High Court that the governor has given his assent to the bill, paving the way for holding separate elections to the two bodies. Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy however said that the state had sent its reply to the questions raised by the governor regarding the bill which was earlier passed in the West Bengal Assembly. “He (governor) is deliberately trying to delay elections of Howrah Municipal Corporation and Bally Municipality, this is purely politically motivated,” he said, questioning Dhankhar’s assertion that he did not give his assent to the bill. BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh however charged that the Mamata Banerjee government is trying to turn the governor into a rubber stamp. “This is not good for the constitutional setup,” Ghosh said. Dhankhar, who has enjoyed a not-so-friendly relationship with the TMC government since taking over as governor in July, 2019 with both sides sparing no chance to attack each other, was also critical of Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee. Banerjee has on Saturday said that he has written to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing Dhankhar of his “interference” in legislative matters. “The Speaker should be aware of the duties and responsibilities of the position,” the governor said. He said that on the two occasions he addressed the House, he was reminded of the Emergency era, as both the times his “address was blacked out”. Dhankhar said that when he went to visit the Assembly for the first time, it was locked. “Such a conduct of the Speaker cannot be countenanced,” he said. Sougata Roy however took exception to Dhankar’s comments on the speaker and said the Governor “is crossing the limits and has insulted Biman Banerjee earlier also,” he said. However, BJP’s Ghosh said that the governor is a constitutional authority and insulting Dhankhar meant demeaning a constitutional post. “This is a cause of concern for a democratic set-up,” the BJP leader said. With inputs from PTI Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.