Even though his governorship of the state was beset with frequent tiffs with chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar was not immune to the charm of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, which he recently called a city of joy and its people "cultured." Dhankhar made the remarks Tuesday during an interaction with students at Agriculture Management institution.
He was responding to a question raised by a girl from West Bengal preparing for competitive exams in Kota.
"When it comes to West Bengal, the matter becomes very special," the VP said.
"Kolkata is a city of joy and people in West Bengal are very cultured and creative and their mind is very fertile," he said.
Aasma, a student from West Bengal, expressed her concern about the reduction in syllabus between Class 11 and Class 12 and asked the VP, "Don't you think that for our nation to grow, our syllabus shouldn't be reduced?" To this Dhankhar responded, "The National Education Policy (NEP) takes care of the problem that you raised." Dhankhar, also the Rajya Sabha Chairman, said more than a hundred thousand opinions, including his, were taken from across the country in the framing of the NEP.
Earlier, the former governor of West Bengal, recalled an incident that took place in the Rajasthan state Assembly.
He said he was asked in the assembly how despite such differences between them, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee threw her hat in his favour for the post of the vice-president.
"It is a secret that cannot be shared," Dhankhar said was his reply to him.
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