Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Saturday made it clear that he was carrying out a governor’s responsibilities of “upholding the Constitution” and was aware of the “various problems of the common man and life in Bengal”.

In a first media release since becoming the Bengal governor, Bose gave a list of interventions he made as the constitutional head of state.

It was issued shortly after state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar called on the governor to apprise him of “corruption”, “deteriorating law and order” and “glaring irregularities” in the implementation of various central projects by the state government that had forced the Centre to hold up funds, said sources.

Majumdar visited Raj Bhavan three days after BJP lawmakers slammed Bose in the Assembly for reading out a speech prepared by the state government.

Majumdar told Bose about fears of violence in panchayat polls and sought his intervention to ensure free and fair elections.

Stating he had “zero tolerance” for corruption, the governor added in his statement that he was working to uphold the Constitution “in all matters” so that “cooperative federalism fostered”.

A Raj Bhavan source said Bose’s decision to come out with a media release after meeting Majumdar was to leave no room for “misinterpretation”.

“It is proof that Bose doesn’t want to be seen as toeing the line of any political party. He... won’t play Jagdeep Dhankhar’s role,” the source added, referring to the former governor’s perceived pro-BJP bias.

The media release said “violence has no place in elections”.

It said Bose refused to administer the oath to the Lokayukta since he found the administrative order of appointment “not valid in law”. The government agreed to amend the Lokayukta Act. He rejected a bill that proposed to replace the governor as the chancellor of universities with the chief minister, it said.

To Bose, Majumdar claimed malpractices in VC appointments in state-run varsities. The release referred to the Supreme Court order that VCs selected in violation of UGC norms were ineligible and that it would be “examined... and immediate action taken”.