In another incident highlighting the turnaround in the hostility that existed between the Raj Bhavan and chief minister’s office for three years, new West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose kicked off the Budget session of the state assembly on Wednesday with a glowing speech of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government’s achievements, even as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders sloganeered and walked out in protest. This is a stark role-reversal from the constantly fractious relationship between Jagdeep Dhankhar, who served as governor of the state between July 2019 and 2022 before eventually resigning to become Vice President of India, and chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who often accused him of doing the BJP’s bidding.
On Wednesday, it was the BJP led by leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari, a former TMC leader once considered close to Banerjee, who said that they were disappointed that the governor made no departure from a speech that painted a “rosy picture” of the state’s affairs, even shouting slogans of “go back”.
The BJP took particular umbrage to a section of Bose’s speech where he said, “Under the stewardship of my chief minister, the preceding year passed off peacefully and the government is ever alert to maintain law and order and communal harmony in the state. Religious festivities of all hues were celebrated in an atmosphere of mirth and bonhomie, reflective of the spirit of our rich diversity.”
To be sure, it is custom that the governor’s speech to the House is put together by the state government, and delivered by the governor after assent.
“There are three areas where we could do little in this year — MGNREGA, rural housing, and rural roads. Till 2021-22, West Bengal has been the number one state in these areas as well. But this year, the state is yet to receive any funds from the centre. More than ₹11,800 crore is pending. This has caused great hardship and created major difficulties in meeting the obligations of the state government for the welfare of the common people,” Bose said.
During his speech, the BJP legislators shouted slogans for action to be taken against the TMC’s alleged corruption, threw papers in the well of the assembly, and staged a walkout. “The draft of the governor’s speech is prepared by the cabinet. Previously many governors like Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Keshari Nath Tripathi and Jagdeep Dhankhar have forced the state government to change a few lines. We are disappointed that he read a speech drafted by the chief minister. Law and order has deteriorated drastically and the governor is being made to paint a rosy picture. We are ashamed,” Adhikari said.
Wednesday also marked the first governor’s address to be broadcast after two years. Ever since the 2020 budget session, one of the many causes of acrimony between then governor Dhankhar and Banerjee was that his speech was not televised.
Wednedsay’s events were is the latest in a series of incidents that have shown a growing bonhomie between the governor and the chief minister, a relationship that the state BJP has been increasingly uncomfortable with. On Monday, at a function where Banerjee received an honorary doctor of literature degree from Kolkata’s St Xavier’s University, Bose compared the her to other “statesmen and politicians” who were writers, such as Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, APJ Abdul Kalam, and Winston Churchill. “As the people of West Bengal, we are very glad as we have chief minister Mamata Banerjee in this distinguished league,” he said during the event.
Adhikari reacted sharply at the time, and said that he “partly agreed” with Bose’s comparison of Banerjee with Churchill, the “British Prime Minister responsible for the Bengal Famine of 1943.”
In December 2022, days after Bose took oath as governor on November 23, Banerjee described him as a “nice gentleman” and had said that he was “cooperating with the state government”.
On the events in the assembly on Wednesday, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “The governor has been sent by the BJP-ruled Centre. The BJP state unit is completely dependent on the Raj Bhavan for issues, and in their frustration shouted slogans and threw paper, but failed to disrupt his speech.”
