West Bengal: Why did Edu Minister Bratya Basu call V-C appointments by Governor ‘illegal’? Explained

In yet another tussle between the Mamata Banerjee led West Bengal government and the Governor CV Ananda Bose, the state Education minister Bratya Basu has termed the former's decision to appoint interim V-Cs for 11 states universities as being 'illegal'. The minister also urged the candidates to not accept the offers.

But why?

Basu, who also put out a statement on Twitter, slammed the decision to appoint interim V-Cs as according to him the appointments were done without consulting the state education department.

"I came to know from the media that the Honourable Governor has appointed vice-chancellors in 11 universities… This appointment was made without any consultation with the office, which is completely contrary to the current rules for the appointment of vice-chancellors and is illegal,” said the tweet by Basu, which has been strongly denied by Bose.

“In this unprecedented situation, we are taking legal advice on what course of action to take in the future. All the newly appointed vice-chancellors are respectfully requested by the Higher Education Department to reject this appointment,” added the tweet by Basu.

On the sidelines of a programme organised at Raj Bhavan, Bose stated that while his office took recommendations from the education department they had not agreed with the same.

"Consultation does not mean concurrence," said Bose, according to a report by the Indian Express.

The 11 state varsities where new interim V-Cs have been appointed are the University of Kalyani, the University of Burdwan, Sanskrit College and University, Sidho Kanho Birsha University, Kazi Nazrul University, Dakshin Dinajpur University, University of Calcutta, Jadavpur University, Bankura University, Babasaheb Ambedkar Education University and Diamond Harbour Women’s University.