Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Dr. C.V. Ananda Bose came under fire from state BJP leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari yet again as he administered a former director general of police (DGP) oath of office Monday as the state’s chief information commissioner (CIC).
Moments after Bose swore in retired IPS officer Virendra— said to be handpicked by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee— at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata, Adhikari took to Twitter to call the governor’s nod for the appointment “unfortunate”.
“As a member of the committee, making recommendations for the appointment to the post of State Chief Information Commissioner, I raised an objection as information regarding filling of the vacant post wasn’t well circulated. Yet the Hon’ble Governor is going ahead with the appointment,” Adhikari wrote.
“The selected person was the former DG of WB Police, who was removed from his position by the Election Commission ahead of the 2021 Assembly Elections & was barred from holding any election related post as he was inclined towards the (Trinamool Congress),” he further claimed.
As a Member of the Committee, making recommendations for the appointment to the post of State Chief Information Commissioner, I raised objection as information regarding filling of the vacant post wasn’t well circulated.
Yet Hon’ble Governor is going ahead with the appointment. pic.twitter.com/x56Rbau4Te— Suvendu Adhikari • শুভেন্দু অধিকারী (@SuvenduWB) April 10, 2023
The BJP MLA didn’t stop there. While speaking to the media in Purba Medinipur where he addressed a public rally, Adhikari said: “Mamata Banerjee and the Governor should hold a chintan-shivir (discussion) and decide what is right and what is wrong.”
Adhikari had also raised an objection in February when Virendra was appointed to the state CIC position.
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Barbs from Adhikari, other BJP leaders play cool
The state CIC appointment isn’t the only issue over which Adhikari has lashed out at C.V. Ananda Bose, who has been serving as the Governor of West Bengal since last November.
Last week, Adhikari told mediapersons in Kolkata that Bose was yet to play an “active role” in the state’s affairs, unlike his predecessors.
“West Bengal has had several renowned governors, from Gopal Krishna Gandhi to Jagdeep Dhankhar. We have seen how they have played an active role. Unfortunately, we are yet to witness any such role of the present governor,” Adhikari had said.
His comments came soon after Bose had visited Hooghly district’s Rishra, where communal violence had broken out on Ram Navami.
There, Bose had said that the central and state governments would join hands to weed out “mobocracy” in the state, but Adhikari had said the governor should do more to protect “nationalists”.
To Adhikari’s comments, the governor had responded with “thanks”.
“I thank Mr. Adhikari for criticising me one can be critical that the opposition leader has the right to make his demands. The opposition has the role to oppose. The opposition is equally important in democracy,” Bose said last week.
Meanwhile, other BJP leaders have kept away from the brewing controversy.
BJP state chief Dr. Sukanta Majumdar gave a question on the governor a pass while addressing mediapersons in Balurghat Monday afternoon.
BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh, meanwhile, praised Bose last week as an able administrator, while noting that a governor should act as a constitutional head without taking sides.
Adhikari had previously skipped Bose’s oath-taking ceremony and also the hate khori ceremony, where the governor began learning Bengali language formally.
Speaking to ThePrint, Trinamool Congress state vice president Jay Prakash Majumdar said that the BJP had turned Raj Bhavan into their party office while former governor Dhankhar, now Vice President of India, was in office.
“Suvendu Adhikari cannot fathom that the state government and Raj Bhavan can have a cordial relationship. This is a sign of healthy governance. He is frustrated as C.V. Ananda Bose isn’t paying heed to him,” Majumdar said.
Source: The Print
