KOLKATA: After a Cabinet meeting on Monday, the West Bengal government agreed to replace Governor Jagdeep Dhankar and appoint Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as Chancellor of all state-run universities under various sectors such as Health, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Minority Affairs.
This will have to go through the West Bengal Legislative Assembly again. The decision will be taken up in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, which is controlled by the ruling TMC. The action is seen as a result of chief minister Mamata Banerjee's long-running feud with governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The Governor is currently the Chancellor of all State Universities. Dhankar is the ex-officio chancellor of 17 universities in Bengal, according to the governor's official website.
On May 26, the West Bengal Cabinet approved the introduction of a bill that would replace the governor as chancellor of all state-run universities with the chief minister. The BJP was outraged by the decision.
BJP leader Amit Malviya had slammed Mamata Banerjee's decision, calling it an "assault on federalism" and "another attempt to dodge accountability and transparency." On Monday, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
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