The West Bengal governor issued a midnight threat of “bigger action” due to his ongoing dispute with the education minister.
Governor CV Ananda Bose forewarned of a much larger action at midnight on Saturday, a day after West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu accused him of attempting to “destroy” the state’s higher education system and presiding over a “puppet regime” in institutions.
A Raj Bhavan official reported that Bose had “signed two confidential sealed letters,” one for the state secretariat, Nabanna, and the other for the Centre, as the clock was getting close to midnight.
The official stated that “it would be disclosed later” in regard to the letter’s contents.
The person continued, “The governor signed two confidential letters tonight, one intended for Nabanna and the other for Delhi.”
The person told PTI that the letters’ contents would be revealed later and hinted that they would deal with the current spat between the governor and the state government.
A few hours after attending a lengthy meeting with the chief secretary, HK Dwivedi, at Raj Bhavan, Bose signed the letters.
But neither the state administration nor the Raj Bhavan made any mention of the meeting’s subject.
In light of the harsh criticism and attacks leveled by the state education minister earlier in the day, Bose issued a warning of far greater action at midnight.
“Await the moment that midnight strikes today. You will witness what is going on,” Bose had told reporters in the afternoon, outside of a program taking place here.
Following Bose’s remark, Basu made fun of the governor by referring to him as the “new vampire in town” and admonished the populace to “beware of him” without specifically naming the man.
“Watch until midnight to catch the action.” BEWARE! ALWAYS BE CAREFUL! brand-new vampire in town! Please keep an eye on yourselves, citizens. Eagerly anticipating the “Rakkhas Prahar” (monster prahar), as described in Indian mythology,” wrote Basu on ‘X’.
The West Bengal administration and the Raj Bhavan have been engaged in a verbal spat over the appointment of interim vice-chancellors in institutions. On Friday, Basu accused the governor of attempting to “destroy” the state’s higher education system.
The governor, who serves as the chancellor of state-run universities, was also accused by the minister of running a “puppet regime” in the universities and of intimidating registrars into not meeting with the higher education department.
“The honorable governor wants to choose individuals based on his fancies in order to appease someone’s ego. He is always working to undermine the higher education system, according to Basu.
In a statement, the West Bengal Educationists’ Forum referred to Bose’s remarks on the midnight action as “threats”.
“It is unfortunate to witness the chancellor blaring out threats of staging a midnight drama of revenge against the educationists and the officials and functionaries of the state higher education department,” the statement read.
The chief minister harshly criticized the governor’s appointment of interim vice chancellors for eight universities, including the prestigious Presidency University, MAKAUT, and the University of Burdwan, in his capacity as chancellor of state-run universities. The move was seen as an attempt to meddle with the management of state-administered universities.
According to sources, appointment letters for the interim vice-chancellors of eight more universities “will be issued soon” after they have been finalized.