Bengal governor’s sealed confidential letter to the chief minister following his midnight action threat, has reached Nabanna’s reception on Sunday, said sources in the state government.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who returned to the city on Sunday evening after attending the G-20 summit in Delhi, is likely to open the letter on Monday, the sources said.
Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, who is the ex-officio chancellor of the state-aided universities, late on Saturday sent another confidential letter to the Centre.
However, it could not be immediately known who the letter was addressed to.
The chancellor addressed the letter to Mamata hours after he responded while answering a question on what education minister Bratya Basu said about him a day before.
Bratya Basu equated the chancellor with Muhammad bin Tughlaq, for his allegedly erratic decisions in appointing officiating vice-chancellors in the state-aided universities.
“Therefore we are making a conjecture that the content of the letter could have something to do with the tussle between the chancellor and the education minister over controlling the affairs of the campuses,” said a source in the education department.
Calls and WhatsApp messages to the minister, who posted on X on Saturday afternoon: “See till midnight, see the action” BEWARE! BEWARE! BEWARE! New Vampire in the town!” hours after the governor threw a midnight challenge at the state government, failed to elicit any response.
Answering an an email sent by this newspaper, the governor wrote to The Telegraph:
“Your mail is received and is being examined.”
A former vice-chancellor said that the chancellor has locked horns with the chief minister as well.
Around Tuesday midnight, C.V. Ananda Bose appointed an officiating VC at Kanyashree University, hours after chief minister Mamata Banerjee threatened “economic sanctions” as part of a “tit-for-tat strategy” if colleges and universities act in deference to what the governor says.
“She has even threatened to hold a sit-in front if the chancellor continues to meddle in the affairs of the campuses. Whatever the education minister is doing must have the consent of the chief minister,” the VC said.
“The chief minister has reminded the governor that hers is a three-time elected government and his is a nominated post. So it is not clear what the chancellor is seeking to achieve by writing a letter to her”.