Within weeks of the ruckus inside the campus of India’s premium Jadavpur University the Raj Bhavan on Friday removed Vice Chancellor Professor Bhaskar Gupta. The removal is interpreted as a punitive exercise as it comes barely three days before Professor Gupta’s retirement.

A statement from the secretariat of Governor CV Ananda Bose read, “the authorisation given to Professor Bhaskar Gupta as per order on April 20, 2024, to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the Vice Chancellor of Jadavpur University is withdrawn and shall come into effect immediately.”

Amid a long standing imbroglio on the appointment of vice chancellors the Governor’s House had appointed Gupta a professor in the same university as the officiating VC.

Professor Gupta’s unceremonious removal comes within weeks of the rumpus inside the JU campus during a visit by Education Minister Bratya Banerjee who was allegedly gheraoed by the Left wing students who had been demanding a date from him regarding the college union elections that had been lying pending in the entire State for the past 8 years or so.

Things took an ugly turn when the Minister’s vehicle literally forced its exit from the University — where he had come to attend a Trinamool Congress backed professors’ association meet — grievously injuring a couple of students.

According to sources the “higher authorizes” were unhappy with the VC for having failed to summon the police inside the campus — which has not been the tradition in Bengal.

Soon after the removal of Professor Gupta Education Minister Basu said, “removals of a VC just a few days before his retirement is unprecedented … a scholar like him could have been dealt with in a better way.”

The outgoing VC however refused to comment saying he did not know the reason for his removal. “As no reason has been ascribed I cannot give you any … I only know that I return to my substantive post,” he said.