Bengal minister fires varsity volley at governor

KOLKATA: Bengal education minister Bratya Basu on Friday said CM Mamata Banerjee was "morally the chancellor of state universities" and attacked governor CV Ananda Bose for allegedly "bypassing" the government to make unscheduled visits to universities, meet vice-chancellors, and offer grants.
Indicating that the state had flagged its dissent in a formal letter to Raj Bhawan, Basu went on to ask the governor to either sign the Bills - which would replace the governor with the CM as the state university chancellor - or return them (to the assembly) to be passed again.
In a break from the turbulent Jagdeep Dhankhar era in Raj Bhawan, governor Bose had cordial terms with Basu and had in February indicated they would work in "synchronisation". This, however, changed when the governor asked the V-Cs to send a weekly report to him and take his nod in financial matters. Since Monday, Bose has visited many universities, allegedly without informing the state.
Calling the office of the governor a "white elephant", Basu cited SC orders relating to the Telangana governor refusing to give her assent to Bills passed by that assembly.
"The Bill replacing the governor with the CM as the state university chancellor was passed in June 2022. Since then, we have got a new governor. If he is keen on developing higher education in Bengal, if he wants to understand Bengal and Bengalis better, then he should heed the Supreme Court order by the bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and give his nod to the Bills," Basu said.