A move that is expected to start a fresh rift in the state, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal will bring in the state assembly to make Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee the chancellor of the state-run universities, state Education Minister Bratya Basu said on Thursday.
Currently, the Governor is the chancellor of state-run universities.
“Today, the state cabinet gave its consent to the proposal to make the chief minister the chancellor of all state-run universities in place of the governor. This proposal will soon be introduced as a bill in the assembly,” Bratya Basu was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The state government’s decision is expected to cause a new row between Chief Minister Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who have often been at forefront against each other. Notably, the decision comes after Dhankhar expressed his disappointment with the state government over the appointment of Vice-Chancellors without his consent.
His allegations came after Banerjee’s government-appointed Professor Soma Bandyopadhyay as the new VC of Diamond Harbour Women’s University (DHWU).
“Calcutta Univ VC Sonali Chakravarty gets second full four year term without any selection. No CM response to Aug 17 communication,” Dhankhar had said in a series of tweets.
“Aug 28 Notification @MamataOfficial appointing Sonali Chakravarti CU VC for second four year term (a classic case of patronage) was directed by Chancellor on Sept 16 to be withdrawn. No response @basu_bratya (Education Minister Bratya Basu) ‘Law unto Oneself’ stance. Instance of ‘Law of ruler, not rule of law’.”
However, the TMC had criticised Dhankhar for his statement, saying the Governor isn’t “doing justice to his constitutional post by such tweets”.
