West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose.
Credit: PTI File Photo
West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose has, yet again, given the ruling dispensation – the Trinamool Congress – a reason to argue back.
On Tuesday, observing the death anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, Governor Bose said that today’s Bengal is not what the great poet had envisaged.
“What Gurudev (Tagore) had envisaged is a place, ‘Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high’... This is not the Bengal that we have now,” Bose said. “Certainly a relook is necessary. Introspection is called for. Time is not late, but before it’s too late we should act together,” the governor stated.
Bose added that “what people want is a concerted effort to end violence and corruption”. “That is possible if people come together,” he said, and added that there is no reason for “anyone to see the campaign against corruption and violence as opposed to any interest”.
The Raj Bhavan, Kolkata, has already taken up unprecedented steps to help commoners in raising concerns against violence and corruption. Earlier, a “peace room” was opened at Raj Bhavan to address grievances related to the poll violence in the state. People, in general, were given an opportunity to connect and share their complaints, which were shared with the administrative authorities concerned.
Later, an "anti-corruption cell" began functioning from the peace room. In the words of the governor, this was an attempt to “give voice to the voiceless” and the Raj Bhavan was trying to be a “friend of the unfriended poor”.
Biman Banerjee, Speaker, West Bengal Legislative Assembly, said that he doesn’t agree with the opinion of Governor Bose. Banerjee said that Bengal’s people still live peacefully, and there’s no situation that may lead one to conclude differently. “This is not correct. I can’t agree with him,” he said.
Bengal’s education minister Bratya Basu, said that the party in the Opposition – the BJP – says the same thing, and that the governor was toeing the saffron party's line.