West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said that he will consider the Bills passed by the State Assembly aimed at replacing him as the Chancellor of the State Universities and appointing the Chief Minister as the head of Universities in the State.
“I will consider all the Bills legally; I will consider all the Bills according to the Constitution. I will consider all the Bills taking note of the situation that education is in the concurrent list. I will examine all these Bills in perspective of the University Grant Commission Act. I will pay attention to these Bills after taking note of Supreme Court decisions. I will act 100% in accordance with law,” Mr. Dhankhar said at an event in the city.
The remarks come at a time when the West Bengal Legislative Assembly has passed a number of Bills removing the Governor as the Chancellor and replacing the Chief Minister on the post. On Tuesday, the Assembly passed The West Bengal University of Health Sciences (Amendment) Bill, 2022. During the ongoing Session of the State Assembly, the House has passed several such Bills to this effect. The first such Bill, The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, was passed in the House on June 13.
The decision to replace the Governor as the chancellor is a result of serious differences between Raj Bhawan, Kolkata and the State Secretariat on the functioning of Universities, particularly on the appointment of Vice- Chancellors. The remarks by the Governor have once again triggered a war of words in the political circles of the State.
While Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said that the State Assembly has no powers to replace Governor as the Chancellor of the State Universities, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that Governor is toeing the line of the BJP.
