Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed displeasure at governor C.V. Ananda Bose’s decision to set up an anti-corruption cell in Raj Bhavan, and accused him of overstepping his boundaries in order to carry out
the BJP-led Centre’s instructions.

She even went on to suggest that the Raj Bhavan-Nabanna tussles were turning out to be worse in Bose’s tenure than during that of his predecessor Jagdeep Dhankhar, now India’s Vice-President.

“The governor has started special cells. This is not the work of Raj Bhavan. We respect him, but he has been setting up this cell and that. This is the state government’s right, yet the governor is unnecessarily interfering. The governor is calling people from other states to constitute teams of experts,” said Mamata at a news meet at Nabanna in the evening, hours after Bose announced the setting up of an eight-member, 24/7 anti-corruption cell to receive complaints from the masses.

“Why has the governor been overstepping his boundaries?” asked a visibly displeased chief minister.

Governor Bose alleged that corruption and violence were Bengal’s two greatest enemies.

Announcing the decision to set up the cell, Bose said Raj Bhavan was trying to give voice to the voiceless and be a friend of the unfriended poor.

“We work within our territory, we do not try to infringe upon the turf of others. There is something called Lakshman rekha, we will certainly try to confine ourselves within that,” said the governor.

“‘Don’t give money to anyone, we will not allow theft. If someone wants money, take his picture and send it to me’, this was said in Cooch Behar by my constitutional colleague, the honourable chief minister. That is precisely what we are trying to implement,” he added. “We will take them (the complaints) up with the competent authorities.”

Bose set up a peace room in Raj Bhavan when the panchayat poll-related violence started in June, which had also not gone down well with the ruling dispensation.

“What did the peace room achieve? In the days of violence, Raj Bhavan decided to keep awake at night, so that poor people can sleep in peace,” he said on Wednesday.

In her news meet, Mamata seemed to imply that Bose was less kind to her government than even Dhankhar.

“When Dhankhar was here, there were... controversies, fights.... But he never did these things. But now we are seeing that from behind the mask, he (Bose) has been doing whatever the BJP tells him,” Mamata said.

“I am not blaming the governor, I am blaming the Centre, because these actions are being done at Centre’s behest....”