'Course Correction' In Kolkata? Why Bengal Governor May No Longer Go Overboard In His Praise Of Mamata Banerjee

Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, who drew a lot of flak for going overboard with his praise of Mamata Banerjee, may be changing track. 

Late last week, Bose showed the door to his principal secretary Nandini Chakravorty, the senior most official in the Raj Bhawan. Chakravorty, a senior IAS officer, is considered to be very close to Banerjee. 

Chakravorty, a 1994 batch IAS officer of the Bengal cadre, was posted as the principal secretary to the Governor on 18 August last year when the then Manipur Governor La Ganesan was given additional charge of Bengal following Jagdeep Dhankar's election to the post of Vice President.

Bose, who took over as Governor of Bengal in November last year, did not make any changes in the team of officials posted at the Raj Bhawan. The BJP says that some of these officials who are loyal to Banerjee have been misleading the Governor. 

Bose faced censure from the state BJP during and after his customary address at the beginning of the budget session of the state assembly. 

The Governor has chosen to read out, verbatim, from the script prepared for him by the state government. That address was an unabashed eulogy of Banerjee and the state government. 

What angered BJP legislators was that the Governor's speech contained direct criticism of the Union government over non-release of funds for some social welfare and infrastructure projects in Bengal.

The non-disbursal of funds for projects like the PM Awas Yojana, the PM Gram Sadak Yojana and the MGNREGA due to large-scale anomalies in their implementation in Bengal is a contentious issue. 

While Banerjee has been accusing the Centre of discriminating against Bengal, the Union government has made it clear that the anomalies have to be set right and money siphoned off from the federally-funded projects returned before more funds are disbursed. 

The BJP MLAs, who responded to the Governor's address with constant and loud cries of ‘shame shame’, were also unhappy over Governor Bose choosing to overlook the many scams that have been unearthed in recent months. 

The BJP's contention was that the Governor did not have to read out all that ‘false praise’ of the state government.

“He should have skipped the lines and paragraphs that contained all that praise and also the criticism of the Union government,” leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikary told Swarajya. 

Adhikary pointed out that past governors of the state like Jagdeep Dhankar, Keshari Nath Tripathi and Gopalkrishna Gandhi had skipped lines portions of their prepared speeches which they felt was undeserved praise of the state government.

“Governor Bose should have used his discretion,” said Adhikary.

The Governor’s brazen eulogy of the Bengal government comes close in the heels of his high praise of Banerjee at an event where she was awarded an honorary D Litt by a private university. 

Bose, a former bureaucrat who has many achievements to his credit, stunned everyone at the event by comparing Banerjee with former presidents Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Czech president Vaclav Haval, former British prime minister Winston Churchill and English poet John Milton (read this). 

The Governor left everyone incredulous by extolling Banerjee's “pursuit of excellence” in the field of art and culture.

Banerjee's juvenile scrawls and doodles with the paintbrush and her nonsensical poems have, for long, been the subjects of widespread ridicule and mirth. That's why Bose's praise of Banerjee's poems and paintings stunned everyone. 

Raj Bhavan sources told Swarajya that it was Chakraborty and some other state cadre officials who gave Bose the impression that Banerjee was an accomplished poet and painter and that her works are widely acclaimed. 

Chakravorty was the one responsible for drafting the Governor's address to the state assembly ‘in consultation’ with the state government.

“He (the Governor) made the mistake of trusting her (Nandini) too much. He does not know much about Bengal and she misled him. She, and some other officials of the West Bengal Civil Services posted at the Raj Bhawan have been feeding the Governor all wrong information,” a senior BJP leader told Swarajya.

These officers are suspected of being in close touch with the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) and acting on suggestions on what to tell the Governor and what to recommend to him.

“These officers take orders from the CMO and close aides of the Chief Minister. So, the Governor is misled on many matters and they do not portray a correct picture of events, issues and personas to him,” said BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh. 

BJP leaders say that the 'haat-a-khori’ event at the Raj Bhawan on Basant Panchami (Saraswati Puja) last month for which Governor Bose came in for a lot of criticism was held at the suggestion of the Chief Minister. 

‘Haat-a-khori’ is an event held on the day of Saraswati Puja to initiate children into learning.

‘Haat-a-khori’ literally means making a child hold a chalk pencil (khori) in his or her hand (haat) to write the first few Bengali alphabets. This ceremony of Bengali Hindus marks a child’s ceremonial initiation into learning. 

The Governor also held a pen and was taught to write the first few alphabets of the Bengali script by a girl student of a Christian missionary school.

Chief Minister Banerjee was the virtual guest of honour at the event which she also micro managed.

To add to the drama, leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikary was invited to the event but allocated a seat at a back row with state officials. He did not, naturally, attend the event.

“The Governor is a learned person. ‘Haat-a-khori’ is meant for children who have not been initiated into learning. The ceremony can never be relevant for an educated and learned adult. It was all unnecessary drama staged by the chief minister through her pliant officers posted at the Raj Bhavan,” said Adhikary. 

BJP leaders have, right from the time Bose took over as Governor, resented the perceived closeness between Bose and the Chief Minister.

Banerjee had, right at the beginning of Bose's tenure, lauded him as a “fine gentleman”. 

But many BJP leaders say that Raj Bhawan officials cannot be blamed solely for Governor Bose’s actions and words.

“He (Bose) is a retired bureaucrat and is an intelligent person. He is also a member of the BJP and worked closely with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). He should act with discretion and maturity. Comparing the chief minister with great personalities like Radhakrishnan and Vajpayee only raises suspicions about his intentions,” said a senior BJP leader. 

Adhikary, who has been very vocal in his criticism of the Governor, has been keeping the BJP central leadership informed about the Governor’s statements, gestures and actions.

Top BJP leaders told Swarajya that state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar was asked to meet the Governor and convey the party’s concerns to him. 

Majumdar met Bose late last week and told Bose about the corruption and scams that have marked Trinamool’s rule in Bengal.

He also voiced the BJP’s apprehension that the ruling party would resort to violence and rig the forthcoming panchayat polls. 

The Governor is learnt to have assured the state BJP chief that he would uphold the Constitution and fulfil his constitutional responsibilities.

He reportedly told Majumdar that he is not biased against or in favour of any party and would act impartially.

Significantly, the Raj Bhavan issued a statement after the meeting that the Governor has “zero tolerance” towards corruption.

The statement said that “violence has no place in elections” and that the Governor was aware of “the various problems of the common man and life in Bengal”. 

BJP sources said Majumdar told the Governor very frankly that his recent words and actions had conveyed the impression that he had “become an admirer of Mamata Banerjee”.

Majumdar reportedly said that such an impression was harmful and brought indignity to the constitutional post of Governor. 

The Governor mostly kept silent during the interaction, but Majumdar’s cautionary advice seems to have had its effect.

Raj Bhavan sources said that the Governor has let it be known that he would like to have officers of his choice in the Raj Bhawan.

Nandini Chakravorty is not just the first officer to have been shown the door. Her dismissal is also meant to send a strong message to Banerjee that Governor Bose is changing tracks now. 

But BJP leaders prefer to wait and watch, and are keeping their fingers crossed.

“It is too early to say anything for sure. The Governor’s actions and words over the next couple of months will tell us if he has mended himself and changed track,” said the BJP leader. 

But what they are sure of is that C V Ananda Bose will not be a Jagdeep Dhankar who had a running feud with Banerjee. Bose will be much more circumspect and guarded than Dhankar. 

Also read: "Pursuit Of Excellence In Literature, Painting And Poetry": Bengal Governor's Glorification Of Mamata Banerjee Draws Disdain

Why Bengal Governor’s Show Of Bonhomie With Mamata Banerjee Is Wrong, As Is Bengal BJP’s Public Criticism Of The Governor