Governor C.V. Ananda Bose said on Monday that he wanted to know personally about the violent incidents which were taking place in Bengal since the panchayat polls were announced as reports sent to him were filtered and might be devoid of facts.
“I have been to ground zero, met people, the victims’ families, the surviving victims to understand the dynamics and how it has affected them. I want to hear from the horse’s mouth and then make my assessment. A hands-on experience is required or else, one has to depend on reports, which are filtered and may not be the real fact,” Bose told newspersons at the state guest house here.
In the past couple of weeks, the relationship between Raj Bhavan and Nabanna witnessed a number of twists and turns. Bose’s decision to return the joining report of state election commissioner Rajiva Sinha, his move to open a “peace room” at Raj Bhavan and certain remarks on the panchayat elections have not gone down well with the Trinamul Congress.
Sinha had called on the governor at Raj Bhavan on Sunday and reportedly apprised him of the State Election Commission’s plans about how central forces would be deployed for the rural polls.
The governor reachedNew Jalpaiguri by train and headed for the state guest house on Monday afternoon. He then made an unannounced visit to the North Bengal University near Siliguri to meet vice-chancellor Sanchari Roy Mukherjee.
When he reached the varsity, the oldest and largest institution of its kind in north Bengal, a meeting of the executive council was in progress. After the meeting, Bose spoke to the VC for about an hour.
While leaving the NBU, the governor faced protests by a group of Trinamul Chhatra Parishad supporters who showed him black flags. Police resisted the protesters as Bose’s convoy rolled out of the campus.
Bose reached back the guest house and met the newspersons.
“Panchayat elections are in the offing and there are allegations and counter-allegations. To ensure that I take decisions or pass an instruction in a more balanced manner, it is necessary to gather on-ground information,” he said.
Later in the afternoon, Bose left for Darjeeling. On June 28, he is likely to hold a meeting with vice-chancellors of 13 varsities, sources said.
Asked whether he would visit any other place during his current tour of north Bengal, the governor said he would go to some districts in due course.
“I want to visit as many districts as possible. I will visit Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Murshidabad, and some other districts in due course,” he said.
Reacting to Bose’s remarks on the reports sent to him on the violence, Trinamul’s state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said: “He is speaking along the lines of the BJP and the Opposition. This is not expected of him.”