New Delhi (Agency): In a new development in West Bengal politics, Governor C V Ananda Bose has found himself at the center of controversy. After sending two confidential letters to the Centre and state government at midnight, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused him of taking sides with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen claimed that the governor’s late-night activity is a bid to secure a favorable position in New Delhi. “The governor is destroying the state’s higher education sector by violating all rules, statutes, and constitutional provisions,” Sen added. State spokesperson for the TMC, Kunal Ghosh, also questioned the governor’s late-night actions, stating that he “is acting at someone’s behest.”
In response, the BJP defended the governor. BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said Bose is working to clean up the mess created by the TMC in the education sector. Majumdar criticized the TMC for undermining the governor’s efforts and for showing no concern for the welfare of students in state universities.
This comes after Education Minister Bratya Basu accused the governor of running a “puppet regime” in state universities and attempting to “destroy” the higher education system in West Bengal. The governor had hinted at taking “much bigger action” amid this criticism. A Raj Bhavan official confirmed that Bose had signed two confidential sealed letters, one for the state secretariat, Nabanna, and another for the Centre. The content of these letters is yet to be disclosed.
Bratya Basu, without naming Bose, warned the public to “beware of the new vampire in town” in a social media post on ‘X,’ formerly known as Twitter. This adds fuel to the ongoing tensions between the West Bengal government and the Raj Bhavan over appointments in universities.
The West Bengal Educationists’ Forum criticized Bose’s late-night actions, describing them as “threats” against educationists and state officials. The governor has recently appointed interim vice-chancellors for several state-run universities, including Presidency University and the University of Burdwan, which has drawn sharp criticism from the chief minister.