Violence outside and 'lens' inside Raj Bhavan: Bengal Guv's veiled jibe at state govt

Bose was speaking at a function to swear-in the newly elected TMC MLA from Dhupguri, Nirmal Chandra Roy, at the Raj Bhavan. Bose had alleged that he was being 'tapped and tracked'.

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose in a veiled attack on the TMC government said Saturday there is 'violence outside' and 'lens' inside the Raj Bhavan.

Bose was speaking at a function to swear-in the newly elected TMC MLA from Dhupguri, Nirmal Chandra Roy, at the palatial Raj Bhavan which doubles up as the Governor’s residence and office.

The Governor told newspersons at the gathering that 'there is a lot of violence outside the Raj Bhavan and lens inside'. The quip on 'lens' seemed a reference to his earlier complaints that he was being monitored.

Bose had on Thursday written to the state government and the Union home ministry alleging he was being 'tapped and tracked' and requested for state-of-the-art security system at Raj Bhavan including installation of jammers and de-bugging of the area, according to sources.

The Governor has earlier also visited areas where violence broke out during the panchayat polls held in the state this July.

Relations between the TMC-run government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Bose had also deteriorated on his bypassing state government recommendations on university appointments and calling meetings of vice-chancellors.

TMC's newly elected MLA Nirmal Chandra Roy won the September 5 Dhupguri bypolls defeating BJP candidate Tapasi Roy by a margin of 4,309 votes. The seat was earlier held by BJP MLA Bishnupada Roy who died in July.

While the function was attended by TMC chief whip Tapas Roy and a couple of family members of the newly elected MLA, Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee did not turn up for the occasion.

The Raj Bhavan and the state government had been at loggerheads over Roy’s swearing-in programme for over a week with both sides wanting to organise the event. While the state government was keen on holding the swearing-in ceremony at the Assembly, the Governor wanted it to be held at the Raj Bhavan.

Finally, it was decided that Bose would administer the swearing-in at the Raj Bhavan on Saturday.