Kolkata, Nov 18
The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal has expressed its displeasure over appointment of C.V. Ananda Bose as the new state Governor without consultation with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Ever since the Rashtrapati Bhavan announced Ananda Bose as the new governor on Thursday evening, the Trinamool Congress has maintained a brooding silence over the name, but expressed dissatisfaction at the chief minister not being consulted.
Reacting to the development, veteran Trinamool Congress leader and three-time party Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy said it's difficult to understand the basis on which the Centre finalised the name of the new state governor without consulting the state government.
"Be it in the case of a politician like Jagdeep Dhankhar or a retired bureaucrat like C.V. Ananda Bose, I fail to understand the parameter of the selection of anyone of the Union government's choice without any consultation with the state government. I have never heard of Bose as an Indian administrative Service officer," Roy said.
Barring this comment from Roy, there had been no other reaction from anybody else from Trinamool Congress, including the chief minister till the time this report was filed.
However, state government insiders said that there had been a difference over informing the state government about the new governor's appointment this time than what it was in July 2019, when Jagdeep Dhankhar, currently the Indian Vice- President, was appointed as the-then governor. "In the case of Jagdeep Dhankhar, the communication was made to the chief minister from the Union home minister's office only after his name was officially announced to the media. However, in the case of Ananda Bose, Union Home Minister Amit Shah personally communicated to the chief minister about his name before the official announcement was made by Rashtrapati Bhavan," said a member of the state cabinet on strict condition of anonymity.
BJP's national vice president and party Lok Sabha member, Dilip Ghosh, said that it is not possible to consult the state government on each and every appointment decision. "Trinamool Congress also wanted the President of India to be its choice. But that was also not possible," he said.
The other state BJP leaders like the party's state president and party MP, Sukanta Majumdar and the leader of the opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari have whole- heartedly welcomed the decision of appointing CV Ananda Bose as the new state governor.
CPI(M) central committee member and former leader of the Left legislative parties in West Bengal assembly, Sujan Chakraborty said he hopes that the new governor will function as per constitutional norms maintaining a balance between the ruling and opposition parties. "The governor should not function on the basis of what BJP says or what Trinamool Congress says. He should perform as per the culture and heritage of the state," he said.
State Congress president and veteran party MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that for quite some time there had been controversies over appointments of governors. It is to be seen what unfolds next" he said.
