In what could be called the first stern response of Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose against signs of deteriorating law and order in the state in the run-up to the panchayat polls and indicative of his stand that the state’s highest Constitutional chair cannot be taken for granted, the former bureaucrat has put the state administration in the dock for the alleged attack on Union minister Nisith Pramanik’s convoy in Cooch Behar on Saturday.

Calling the attack on Pramanik “deplorable”, Governor Ananda Bose has called for an immediate action taken report from the responsible law enforcement authorities of the state. “Government will take immediate and perceptible action while dealing with the criminals and upholding the rule of law,” a statement from Raj Bhavan read.

The statement was admittedly drafted after the Raj Bhavan conducted “confidential enquiries in the matter” and after Governor Ananda Bose “personally discussed with… Nisith Pramanik”. The BJP leader’s car was attacked allegedly attacked by Trinamul Congress workers with stones and sticks and Pramanik alleged that the police remained mute spectators to the violence unleashed on him and his men.

The changing equations between the Raj Bhavan and state secretariat Nabanna were felt recently when the state removed Nandini Chakraborty from the position of the Principal Secretary to the Governor, reportedly to honour Bose’s wishes to that effect.

Sunday’s statement from the Raj Bhavan on the attack of the BJP leader, incidentally, came on the same day the state sent the Governor a panel of three names to replace Chakraborty as his Principal Secretary.

The Governor reserves the right to reject the names of all three IAS officers – Atri Bhattacharya, Barun Roy and Ajit Ranjan Bardhan – and seek a fresh set of names to fill up the position which currently lies vacant. Sources at Raj Bhavan said he could.

Meanwhile, the Sunday statement from Bose read: “The Governor will not be a mute witness to any deterioration of Law and Order anywhere, anytime in the state, and strong and effective intervention will follow to ensure that the rot is stemmed at the root effectively, and peace and harmony restored”.

“As Governor, it is my duty to ensure that West Bengal does not slip into a “soft state”. Rule of law will be established with an iron fist in a velvet glove. Democracy will not be allowed to degenerate into mobocracy,” the statement further read.

Earlier this month, the BJP legislative party had registered strong protests on the floor of the state Assembly and disrupted Governor Ananda Bose’s inaugural speech of the Budget session alleging the Mamata Banerjee government of “misleading” the Governor with “lies and half-truths”.

The party’s state leadership, too, expressed reservations at the new Governor allegedly getting “cozy with the Mamata Banerjee administration” as a sharp deviation from his predecessor Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and even complained about Ananda Bose’s roles before BJP’s central leaders.

The Assembly’s Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari and the BJP state president Sukanta Majumder had boycotted the new Governor’s oath-taking ceremony in November last year and also stayed away from Ananda Bose’s ‘Hatey Khori’ or initiation ceremony for learning Bangla language which was held amid much fanfare at the Raj Bhavan lawns on the day of Saraswati Puja in January this year with chief minister Mamata Banerjee gracing the occasion as chief guest.

As for Mamata Banerjee and other senior leaders of the Trinamul, the party has remained all praises for the new Governor after its bitter fallout with Jagdeep Dhankhar during his tenure as Governor and during which the relationship between the Raj Bhavan and the Chief Minister’s Office had hit an all-time low.

In his subsequent trips to Delhi, Governor Ananda Bose reportedly met Vice President Dhankhar on multiple occasions who, while as Governor, remained a staunch and vocal critic of the law and order situation in the state, especially in connection with the large-scale political violence post Assembly polls.

“Protest is part of democracy, but violence is not part of civilized conduct,” the Raj Bhavan statement on the attack on Pramanik stated.

“The constitution should be upheld by all those who are committed to do so. Bengal expects every officer to do his duty, without fear or favour, be he in the police or magistracy or any wing of governance,” it further read.

“Any laxity in the maintenance of law and order will lead to chaos and anarchy, which will never be tolerated. Under no circumstances will unruly elements and hooligans be allowed to hold society to ransom,” the Governor’s statement added.