Describing violence and graft as the state's “worst enemies”, West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose Wednesday inaugurated an “anti-corruption” cell at the Raj Bhavan and said it would give a “voice to the voiceless”. The move was met with sharp criticism from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who accused the Governor of “unnecessarily interfering with the affairs of the state government” and “parroting BJP's diktat”. Inaugurating the cell, the Governor said that people can lodge their complaints against corruption and share it with competent authorities. “At the anti-corruption cell, we are trying to give a voice to the voiceless. The Raj Bhavan is trying to be a friend of the unfriended poor. Don't give money to anyone.If someone wants money, take their picture and send it to me. This was said in Cooch Behar by my constitutional colleague, the CM of West Bengal. This is precisely what we are trying to implement. Anyone who comes across corruption can report it to the anti-corruption cell and we will take it up with competent authorities,” said Bose. Speaking after an event for school children organised at the Raj Bhavan, the Governor said, “When we are saying that corruption should end, why should anybody be offended by that? We are only ringing warning bells. If a warning bell is seen as an alarm bell, then those (who object to it) have something to hide. Our objective here is only to expose corruption. Violence and corruption are the two worst enemies of West Bengal.” Referring to the ‘Peace Room’ that he had set up in June to address complaints related to violence during the panchayat polls, Bose said the Raj Bhavan won't “infringe on the rights of others”. “When the ‘Peace Room’ was set up, there were apprehensions about what it could achieve? We will not try to infringe on the turf of others. There is something called ‘Lakshman Rekha’. We will certainly try to confine ourselves within the Lakshman Rekha,” he added. Meanwhile, the chief minister hit out at the Governor for “opening one cell after another”. Addressing a news conference at the state secretariat on Wednesday, Banerjee said, “The Governor has opened a special cell against corruption. This is something the Raj Bhavan cannot do. We respect the Governor but he is opening one cell after another. He is unnecessarily interfering in the affairs of the state government.” Drawing comparisons between Bose's predecessor Vice President and former state Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, Banerjee said the latter never “overstepped his boundaries.” “He (Bose) is bringing people from outside (Bengal). He has made a person belonging to Kerala the vice-chancellor of Aliah University here. The rule is that the state government sends three names (for the post of a vice-chancellor in a state university) and the Governor selects one. When Dhankhar was here, there were a lot of controversies and confrontations but he also never did such a thing. He also never overstepped his boundaries. Now, he (Bose) is hiding behind a disguise and is only parroting BJP's diktat,” said the chief minister. In the past few months, Governor Bose has unilaterally appointed interim vice-chancellors for over a dozen state universities. Sources said, he brought in experts from outside Bengal to monitor the requirement of teachers in state universities. The state government had opposed the move and state education minister Bratya Basu had said that the state government would move the Supreme Court against Bose decision.
