Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty’s four-page letter to Mamata Banerjee on Sunday has generated yet another round of controversy, as senior Trinamul leaders said the letter was aimed at mounting a political offensive at the chief minister.

Chakrabarty sent the letter to Mamata, his third in the span of a month, demanding the return of a 2.9km road that her government took control of in 2021 from the central university after some Santiniketan residents accused varsity authorities of not letting them use it.

Though the demand was the same, many deemed Chakrabarty’s third letter different from his previous ones to the chief minister, as it raised issues like corruption and the arrests of her cabinet colleagues and close aides in alleged scams.

“Two of your senior ministers are in gaol; some of your trusted aides (even from Birbhum) in jail, including in Tihar jail in Delhi...," Chakrabarty wrote, adding that "your government-appointed" VC was jailed over charges of misappropriating money in exchange of jobs.

A source said Chakrabarty underscored the arrest of ministers Partha Chatterjee (in the alleged school recruitment scam) and Jyoti Priya Mallick (in the alleged ration scam), Trinamul Birbhum unit chief Anubrata Mondal (in an alleged multi-crore cattle-rustling scam) and NBU's former VC Subires Bhattacharyya.

Chakrabarty also mentioned Trinamul's Krishnagar MP Mahua Moitra, without taking her name. “Your most vocal member of Parliament is being charged with activities which have already drawn the parliamentary ethics committee to examine the issue,” he wrote, referring to the cash-for-query row.

Kunal Ghosh, Trinamul state general secretary, responded scathingly. “The letter is enough to understand why he (the VC) did not name Rabindranath Tagore on the (Unesco heritage tag) plaques. The letter can’t be from the head of a central university, as it looks like it was drafted by a low-grade BJP cadre...,” he said.

A section of officials on campus said Chakrabarty's belligerence comes in the wake of her deadline to remove the plaques that did not name Nobel laureate and Visva-Bharati founder Rabindranath Tagore, but only Prime Minister Narendra Modi (as chancellor) and Chakrabarty himself.

As the plaques were not replaced, Trinamul started a demonstration near the campus last week.

“The Unesco declared Santiniketan as a World Heritage Site and we need to follow the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) instructions while preparing the plaque and we are doing it, the result of which will soon be visible,” Chakrabarty added.

Mamata on Monday circulated among a few journalists a statement condemning the plaques without Tagore's name. She said: "Abrasive and arrogant display of self-absorbed narcissism continues in what was once the Gurudev 's abode!! UNESCO recognizes the world heritage of Santiniketan, but the local headman of today continues to flaunt his own little name in memorial pieces !! For God's sake, remove the insulting plaques which erase out the name of Rabindranath Tagore from the face of the institution that the poet had so painstakingly founded!! Show some dignity and humility!! The ruling dispensation at Delhi should take corrective action forthwith."

Senior Bengal BJP leaders Suvendu Adhikari and Anupam Hazra did not stand by Chakrabarty on the plaque issue.

A senior varsity teacher alleged Chakrabarty’s letter was a move to please "his bosses in Delhi", implying the saffron regime. “His term will be over on November 8, but there is no communication from Delhi about an extension. The plaque row was not welcomed even by BJP leaders, so he took a different route to please his bosses in Delhi."