Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee on Saturday said that if police had been called on time by the Jadavpur University vice-chancellor, the “manhandling” of Babul Supriyo by students could have been averted.

Trinamul secretary-general and education minister Partha Chatterjee said Mukherjee’s comments were his personal views.

“The vice-chancellor of the university should have called the police to nip the problem in the bud. It is because of the vice-chancellor that the police could not reach the place on time. He has to take responsibility,” Mukherjee said on the sidelines of a programme in Calcutta on Saturday.

The veteran minister also criticised Supriyo and governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.

“The way the governor reached the campus and rescued Supriyo, it appeared to be a staged drama. If the governor was so concerned about Supriyo, he should have ordered the VC to call the police. At the same time, Supriyo should have informed the university authorities in advance that he was going to the campus to attend a programme,” Mukherjee said.

Asked about Mukherjee’s comments, Chatterjee said: “This may be his personal views, not the party’s.”

The BJP lost no time in latching onto the opportunity to get at the government. “Subrata Mukherjee is a senior minister and he did the right thing by calling a spade a spade,” said Rahul Sinha, a state BJP leader.

Trinamul had criticised governor Dhankhar for visiting the campus without informing the state government and said the chief minister had called him up and urged him to give the administration time to solve the problem.