West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose.
Credit: PTI Photo
The mystery surrounding the confidential letters written by West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose – one for the state secretariat, the other for Delhi – earlier this month, has been put to rest, seemingly for good, with the governor terming the development as history”.
Bose, on Friday, stated that what was written by the governor to his constitutional colleague (the chief minister) should remain confidential between them. "If either party wants to speak about the letters, they will do so at an appropriate time. The mystery is history now,” he said.
Bose said that Raj Bhavan is, should be, and will be apolitical, and will focus on promotion of art and culture.
Minutes before midnight on September 9, a governor’s representative had shared that Bose had signed two confidential letters (sealed). One of the letters was for Nabanna, the state secretariat, and the other was for Delhi (presumably, the Centre).
The midnight action was preceded by a warning by Governor Bose, earlier on that day. Following the governor’s warning, state’s Education Minister Bratya Basu, in a follow-up tweet, had cautioned the people of a “new vampire in the town”.
Prior to this fiasco, the governor in a video message had talked about the appointment of interim vice-chancellors, and the need to have campuses that are free from violence and corruption, and pledged to fight for it till the end.
However, on September 11, two days after having signed the letters, Governor Bose refused to share any details about his communiques.
“What is confidential should remain confidential,” he had said then, adding that he was the sender, but the recipient(s) could react about the letter’s content.
The governor had also said that it was not the time to discuss what had been communicated to the state, as Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister and his “constitutional colleague” was going abroad. “I will not want any tension to be given to her. Let her not have any baggage with her when she is on a foreign tour. We will discuss once she returns,” he had stated.