Kolkata: Bratya Basu on Friday again hinted at starting the process to make Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee the Chancellor of universities, triggering a fresh tiff between the state government and the Raj Bhavan.
Calling the Governor a “white elephant”, Basu on Friday launched a scathing attack against Governor CV Ananda Bose over the latter’s recent survey visits to different state universities. “The manner in which the Governor is roaming around like a white elephant to different universities is not realistic, proper or as per the norms. We never showed any arrogance towards the new Governor. We want to cooperate with him. But he is misusing his powers and going beyond his limits again and again,” Basu told reporters.
The minister also questioned the Governor’s authority to sanction funds for the universities. “The funds announced by the Governor will come from the state exchequer. How can he make such announcements without consulting the Education department,” Basu asked.
He also referred to the Bill passed in the state Assembly replacing the Governor with the Chief Minister as the Chancellor of state universities, which is yet to be cleared by the Raj Bhavan. “Either he should clear the Bill or send it back to the state government. For me, the Chief Minister is the Chancellor of state universities,” Basu said.
Recently there had been a tussle between the Governor’s House and the state Secretariat on a number of issues, which began with the replacement of Nandini Chakraborty as the Principal Secretary to the Governor.
Meanwhile, the Governor on the other hand visited Belur Math on Friday morning and handed over Ganga water to the monks from Kochi.