West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has triggered a fresh confrontation with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government by naming the new vice-chancellor of the state-run Rabindra Bharati University (RBU), even as a bill replacing the Governor with the CM as the Chancellor of all state-run varsities has been awaiting his nod after being recently passed by the state Assembly. Taking to Twitter, the Governor announced Thursday that he has appointed Mahua Mukherjee, a professor in the RBU's dance department, as its next V-C. "WB Guv Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar as Chancellor has appointed Dr. Mahua Mukherjee, Professor, Dept. of Dance, Rabindra Bharati University, as Vice Chancellor Rabindra Bharati University in terms of section 9(1)(b) of the Rabindra Bharati Act, 1981," he stated. WB Guv Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar as Chancellor has appointed Dr. Mahua Mukherjee, Professor, Dept. of Dance, Rabindra Bharati University, as Vice Chancellor Rabindra Bharati University in terms of section 9(1)(b) of the Rabindra Bharati Act, 1981. pic.twitter.com/l17iY7svnd — Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) June 30, 2022 The Governor also attached a recommendation of the Government Search Committee for the post, saying he was selecting Mukherjee as her name topped its list. The term of the current RBU V-C Sabyasachi Basu Roy Choudhury is set to end soon. By virtue of being the Governor, Dhankhar is the current Chancellor of the state-run universities in Bengal. However, in the wake of protracted conflict with the Raj Bhawan over a range of issues, the state government recently decided to replace him with CM Banerjee as the Chancellor. In this connection, the state Assembly passed The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 on June 13. A day later, the Assembly passed another bill, The West Bengal Private University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 replacing the Governor with the state education minister as the Visitor of the state's private universities. In December last year, the Chancellors and V-Cs of private universities of Bengal had skipped a meeting called by Dhankhar even after he rescheduled it. Afterwards, the Governor hit out at the TMC government, charging, "These developments are alarming and indicate rule of the ruler and not of law. Such a scenario cannot be countenanced." On June 21, Dhankhar said he will consider the bills passed in the Assembly when they are placed before him without any "bias or prejudice". He made the statement after a delegation of the BJP MLAs, led by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, met him to allege that the TMC government's objective was to create a new post that will make the same person the CM and the Governor of Bengal. "I will consider these bills legally. According to the Constitution, education is in the Concurrent List. I will consider these bills without any rancour, anger, bias or prejudice and in the perspective of University Grants Commission Act after taking note of Supreme Court decisions. I will act 100 per cent in accordance with the law," he said. In January, Dhankhar appointed Tapan Mondal, a dean of the Diamond Harbour Women’s University, as its V-C, striking down education minister Bratya Basu’s proposal of appointing Professor Soma Bandopadhyay as the V-C. Bandopadhyay was serving as the V-C of two universities – the West Bengal University Of Teachers' Training, Education Planning and Administration (WBUTTEPA) and the Sanskrit College and University. Despite his appointment, Mondal, however, expressed his unwillingness to take up the job. A day later, the state government decided to “give the charge of the office of the vice-chancellor of Diamond Harbour Women’s University” to Bandopadhyay, rejecting the Governor's move. This time too, sources in the education department said, the new RBU V-C appointed by the Governor is unlikely to take up her job. Mahua Mukherjee was however not available for her comments. Although the Governor is yet to give his assent to the bill appointing the CM as the Chancellor, there has been a strong perception in the state's education circles that Banerjee has already been elevated to the post unofficially. "Therefore, no one will dare to defy the state government. Even if the Governor is giving the order, the state government has already made up its mind and passed a bill to appoint the CM as the Chancellor. So the teachers fraternity is in a dilemma. But they would never go against the wish of the state administration," said a senior official of the education department on condition of anonymity. Slamming Dhankhar for his latest move, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh charged: "The Governor has once again proved that he does not believe in democratic principles and federalism. While his consent is awaited for the bill, the Governor hastily announced a name as the V-C of RBU. He did not bother to take into confidence the education minister and the CM before the announcement. He is basically exceeding his brief."
