A day after an unprecedented situation arose in the wake of the Bengal Government and the State Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar appointing separate nominees to the post of Pro Vice Chancellor of Burdwan University the latter on Wednesday seemed to relent saying he had put a lid on the issue and that he was “leaving it all on the good conscience of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to handle the situation.”
In a high voltage drama the State Government had on Tuesday overruled the Raj Bhavan’s decision and appointed Professor Ashis Panigrahi as the Pro-VC of the prestigious institution hours after Dhankhar had issued an appointment letter to Professor Gautam Chandra.
Even as things threatened to take an uglier turn the Governor on Wednesday beat a hasty retreat and told the media that he was “putting a lid on the issue” as he had a conversation with the Chief Minister during which he found that “both of us are on the same page.” He did not want to precipitate the issue further as and hence he “put a lid on the issue” because “the State is going through a crisis.”
He said “I had a telephonic conversation with Mamata Banerjee today in the morning. The State is going through a crisis and I want this (pro-VC appointment issue) to be resolved. I want to put a lid on the controversy as of now,” adding that he had requested the Chief Minister to see that such avoidable situations did not recur.” He said “things have been taken to a level where the Chief Minister will take a call,” relying heavily on “her good conscience.”
The Governor and the State Government had been at loggerheads ever since Dhankhar joined his last year with the ruling Trinamool Congress repeatedly accusing him for “taking BJP’s side.” Even the Chief Minister alleged on more than one occasion that he was acting like a BJP agent and not a Governor questioning the existence of the post itself.
The battle between Nabanna (the State secretariat) and the Raj Bhavan reached an unprecedented scale early this year when the two constitutional heads engaged in a letter war slapping letters filled with allegations on more than one occasion early this year.