Newfound bonhomie with TMC govt may cost ailing Bengal governor his post
There have been many points of contention between the governor and the BJP leaders ever since the former signalled an end to his rancour with the state's ruling dispensation
The Centre is likely to truncate the tenure of West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose considering his ill-health and fluctuating stand against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government that has been a concern for the state BJP leaders.
Sources privy to the development said a retired Supreme Court judge with a Gujarat connection is the frontrunner for the coveted post.
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Bose is currently recuperating from a heart procedure he had undergone earlier this month. The governor’s office said he has been advised by the doctors to “slow down his pace of work, particularly travel.”
Resumes official work
After a health-related break, Bose resumed his official work on Monday (May 26). “The programme Aamne Saamne, where people from anywhere can talk to his excellency over the phone or reach him by email or meet him directly has been revived. But, given the medical restrictions, the doctors would like to verify the health condition of people who come to the Raj Bhavan to meet him,” said the Raj Bhavan.
In response to the medical directives, the governor has to reschedule his activities, curtailing the frequency of field visits.
Apart from poor health, his intricate relationship with the state government is also factored in while considering a replacement.
BJP bats for change
It has been an open secret in state politics that most state BJP leaders do not share a very good rapport with Bose whom senior party leader Swapan Dasgupta once termed as a 'Xerox machine' of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The disgruntled leaders have reportedly conveyed their unhappiness over the governor’s performance to the party high command, requesting a change in the Raj Bhavan ahead of the Assembly elections early next year.
There have been many points of contention between the governor and the BJP leaders ever since the former signalled an end to his rancour with the state’s ruling dispensation in December last year.
Going soft on TMC
Mellowing from his previous position, the governor agreed to conduct the swearing-in ceremony of six TMC legislators in the Assembly on December 1.
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It was a watershed moment in the relations between the governor and the state government. The relations had hit a low in May last year when the Kolkata police started probing a complaint of sexual harassment lodged against the governor by a woman employee of the Raj Bhavan.
Bose had filed a defamation suit against the chief minister for her remark that women were scared of visiting Raj Bhavan due to “recent activities there.”
By December, the ice in the relationship thawed. The governor’s visit to the Assembly for the swearing-in ceremony was followed by a reciprocal visit by the chief minister to Raj Bhawan on December 9.
Growing unease in BJP
Bose’s relationship with the state government has been blow hot, blow cold unlike his predecessor Jagdeep Dhankhar who had incessant run-ins with the ruling dispensation.
The newfound bonhomie did not go down well with the BJP. The BJP legislators led by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari disrupted the governor’s customary address to the state Assembly in February this year. The BJP took affront to the address as it was full of praise for the “visionary and dynamic leadership” of Banerjee.
Bose though gave BJP something to cheer about in his report sent to the Union Home Ministry over the April unrest in Murshidabad, it could not completely satisfy them.
Murshidabad riots report
In a cryptically drafted report, the governor, while recommending an inquiry into the state’s role in the communal violence, stopped short of recommending central intervention as was demanded by the BJP leaders.
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“Needless to add, the provisions under Article 356 of the Constitution also remain,” the governor wrote at the end of his report, deliberately using a hypothetical phrase.
The leaders publicly, though, hailed the report, the BJP sources said they were not very delighted by the delicately worded report sent after the governor’s April 18-19 visits to Malda and Murshidabad.
Search on for successor
Bose was admitted to the hospital after the visit, adding to the clamour for his removal.
“The search for a new governor has started. The home ministry is exploring all its options,” said an official without further elaborating.
The tenure of the governor is for five years. Bose assumed gubernatorial responsibility in West Bengal in November 2022.
