The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday said that West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose should hold a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to resolve the deadlock over Bills pending with the Raj Bhavan, as directed by the Supreme Court in a similar case.
On Friday, the apex court had asked Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi to meet with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in an effort to end the impasse over pending Bills. Like Mr. Ravi and Mr. Stalin, Mr. Bose and Ms. Banerjee, too, have had several run-ins over multiple issues.
Mr. Bose is acting in a partisan manner and is creating uncertainties at various places, including universities, the ruling party alleged.
“Bose has been withholding several Bills passed by the assembly, including one seeking to make the CM the chancellor of state universities instead of the Governor,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay told PTI, adding that the governor’s act had created an “impasse”.
Education Minister Bratya Basu had told reporters on Friday that the Governor should talk to the CM and resolve the matter.
Defending the Governor, the opposition BJP said the situation in the two States cannot be equated, and added that the he was “exercising caution.”
“By using brute majority in the House, the ruling TMC attempted to subvert well-established provisions to suit its own narrow agenda. The Governor, to safeguard the Constitution, judged every Bill and either sought some clarification or returned the Bill or referred the draft to the President,” said BJP State spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.
Mr. Bose on November 8 said no Bill was pending with the Raj Bhavan, except those that needed clarification from the State or were “sub-judice”.