Governor overstepping his jurisdiction, should approve bills appointing CM as Chancellor says Mamata

CM Mamata Banerjee accuses Governor of overstepping constitutional jurisdiction, urges him to sign Bill replacing her as Chancellor of universities. She also speaks of three language policy, initiatives for tribal communities & demand for ST status by Kurmi community.

The faceoff between West Bengal government and the Raj Bhawan intensified with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accusing the Governor of overstepping constitutional jurisdiction and urged him to give nod to legislations replacing her as the Chancellor of universities in the State.

 “The post of Governor is a Constitutional post. The activities of the Governor are defined in the Constitution. He cannot interfere in everything.. He says that he is doing what the Chief Minister is doing. Then you should form a political party and contest polls or contest polls on a BJP ticket..,” Ms. Banerjee said while addressing a public meeting at Jhargram.

 The State government and the Raj Bhawan has been at loggerheads over appointments of Vice Chancellors and last year the State Assembly had passed a number legislation replacing the Governor with Chief Minister as Chancellor of State Universities.

“The Governor should sign the Bill passed in the Assembly which allowed the appointment of the Chief Minister as the Chancellor of Universities. The earlier laws were made as per the reality during the British regime. There were only 3 universities at that point whereas there are 44-45 universities now,” Ms. Banerjee said.

 Recently the Governor has appointed officiating VCs without allegedly consulting the State government which includes a retired High Court Judge and retired IPS officer. “. The eligibility for the post of vice-chancellor includes the experience of 10 years as a professor. However, a retired IPS officer from Kerala was appointed as vice-chancellor at Aliah University,” Ms. Banerjee said. 

Referring to vacant posts of Vice Chancellor and Registrar at Jhargram University, the Chief Minister said the moment she sends the file, the Governor will appoint a BJP sympathiser to the post.

 The Chief Minister who has resumed her district visits after suffering a foot injury in the last week of June 2023 also touched on three language policies of the State government with stress on learning Bengali and added that some “ people are making baseless comments”.