The relations between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday took a turn for the worse with Ms. Banerjee reminding that she was an elected head and her government did not get the desired respect from the constitutional head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect a minimum courtesy from the Governor … The Governor should not speak like a political party,\u201d the Chief Minister told journalists at the State secretariat hours after the Governor held a press conference saying education in the State was \u201cpolitically caged.\u201d The Governor had called a virtual meeting of the Vice-Chancellors of all State-run universities on July 15 where all but one head of universities skipped the meeting. <\/p>\n
Mr. Dhankhar on Thursday said he would \u201chave to set the process in motion to deal with their [VCs\u2019] conduct in accordance with the applicable Act.\u201d The Governor, who is the Chancellor of all State-run universities, said there was \u201cnon-compliance\u201d by the VCs which could not be accepted. \u201cCan the Education department and VCs self-proclaim they cannot be commanded by a Chancellor? Are they not accountable? When they become accountable?\u201d the Governor had said earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
The Chief Minister assured the Vice-Chancellors that there would be no action against them. <\/p>\n
\u201cAllow the VCs to work. If there is any coercive action against them Bengal will fight that,\u201d Ms. Banerjee said. The Chief Minister reacted to the Governor\u2019s remarks that his letters and communications to the State government have not been responded by waving a bundle of papers before journalists. She said the government tried to answer all his queries. \u201cHe has sent me a number of messages. I spoke to him four times yesterday … what are we expected to do, manage the pandemic or keep replying to the queries by the Centre or Governor,\u201d the Chief Minister said. She accused the Governor of being more critical of the State government than the BJP spokespersons. <\/p>\n
Governor\u2019s tweet<\/h2>\n
Meanwhile, the differences between the Raj Bhawan and the State government spilled to social media as well. Mr. Dhankhar took to Twitter saying that he \u2018cannot fiddle in the Raj Bhawan as education downslides\u2019. \u201cStudent welfare is too serious to be \u201cpolitically caged\u201d. As Chancellor and Governor cannot \u2018fiddle\u2019 in Raj Bhawan as Education downslides. Education is soul of society and its collapse hugely impactful,\u201d the Governor had tweeted.<\/p>\n
The State Higher Education Department responded saying that the post by the Governor is beyond his jurisdiction. \u201cThe Higher Education Department respectfully submit that the aforesaid post of conduct by Hon\u2019ble Chancellor is beyond jurisdiction and contrary to specific statutory and delegated legislative provision and hence of no legal effect,\u201d the department tweeted. Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said that as per an amendment passed in the Assembly, VCs require permission of the department to participate in a discussion with the Governor.<\/p>\n
The relationship between the Governor and the State government has been far from cordial with both sides going public in targeting each other. After a brief lull caused by meetings between Ministers and the Governor, the public spat is once again out in open. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n