Kolkata Feb 27 PTI Amid reports of sporadic incidents of violence at different places during Sundays elections to 107 municipalities across West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has asked State Election Commissioner Saurab Das to brief him on the situation by 10 am on MondayDas should be fully updated on developments in the election process held on Sunday which prima facie indicates failure of democracy a Raj Bhavan release saidState Election Commissioner Shri Saurab Das has been called upon to brief Guv anytime before 10 am tomorrow in view of alarmingly disturbing inputs depicting scenario of violence and lawlessness with administration in partisan mode and systemic failure SEC Dhankhar said in a tweet attaching the releaseA senior SEC official had earlier in the day said that sporadic incidents of violence were reported We noted disturbances in a few areas and took actionDhankhar later told reporters that what is being witnessed in West Bengal is dance of brutality tandav nrityaExpressing hope that the State Election Commissioner will do his duty he said I wish to tell him this is no time for alibis or to act smart this is the time to discharge constitutional obligations I find democratic values imperiled in the state to an extent that people are losing faith in the democratic process The governor added that Sundays municipal election was virtually a war as per inputs received by him PTI AMR RBT RBT

Kolkata Feb 27 PTI Amid reports of sporadic incidents of violence at different places during Sundays elections to 107 municipalities across West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has asked State Election Commissioner Saurab Das to brief him on the situation by 10 am on MondayDas should be fully updated on developments in the election process held on Sunday which prima facie indicates failure of democracy a Raj Bhavan release saidState Election Commissioner Shri Saurab Das has been called upon to brief Guv anytime before 10 am tomorrow in view of alarmingly disturbing inputs depicting scenario of violence and lawlessness with administration in partisan mode and systemic failure SEC Dhankhar said in a tweet attaching the releaseA senior SEC official had earlier in the day said that sporadic incidents of violence were reported We noted disturbances in a few areas and took action PTI AMR RBT RBT

Kolkata Feb 24 PTI West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday summoned West Bengals legislature for a session at the highly unusual time of 2 AM on March 7 acting on a typographical mistake in the state cabinets proposal note Dhankar said he was merely acting on the recommendation of the Mamata Banerjee-led cabinet which he described as unusual though both state government officials as well as the states speaker Biman Banerjee said the request for calling the assembly session at 2 AM was a case of a simple typographical error where PM became AM TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh also clarified late in the day that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself had called up the Governor to clarify the typing error However since that had not been heeded a new proposal will be sent by the state cabinet recommending the correct timing he said If the session is indeed called at 2 AM at night it will mean a historical first of sorts Bengals legislators as well as Governor Dhankar who has had an acrimonious relationship with the TMC government of the state during his tenure will have to literally burn the midnight oil Independent Indias Parliament held a session where Prime Minister Jawharlal Nehru made his famous tryst with destiny speech at the stroke of mid-night Both the Parliament and many state legislative assemblies have met into the late hours of the night to debate urgent business but rarely if ever has a house been summoned at such a late hour In a tweet Dhankar said that finding the timing of the session after midnight somewhat odd he had called the state Chief Secretary for urgent consultation before noon Thursday However there was usual compliance failure he complained Thereafter he took the decision to call the house at the odd hour accepting the cabinet decision the Governor said Invoking article 174 1 of Constitution accepting Cabinet Decision Assembly has been summoned to meet on March 7 2022 at 200 AM he tweeted Assembly meeting after midnight at 200 AM is unusual and history of sorts in making but that is Cabinet Decision Dhankar added The Governor in his tweet pointed out the proposal in the cabinet memo which he received the state cabinet said Now it is proposed that West Bengal Legislative Assembly may be summoned by Honble Governor on 7032022 at 2am Reacting to the decision BJPs Suvendu Adhikari who is also the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly tweeted Midnight session State Governments head is in disorder However Trinamool Congress state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said it was a typographical error and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had called the Governor to correct it by saying it would be PM and not 2 AM Seeing the Governors tweet the Chief Minister called him The word AM is typographically incorrect PM is written everywhere It would be good to understand Meanwhile the Chief Minister has called a 282 cabinet meeting to send a proposal again by writing pm he tweeted Ghosh also wondered how confidential cabinet paper could be made public by the Governor The question is how can the governor post the cabinet paper on Twitter There are no rules or regulations for making this document public The Governor is breaking all norms He is busy obstructing the work of the government slandering Bengal and creating issues out of non-issues He is representing the BJP by tarnishing the image of the Governor he claimed Dhankar responded to this tweet with his own post on the social media platform stating Guv accepts Govt recommendation all machinery AITCofficial is blazing against Guv on all cylinders where are we heading The governor had earlier sent back a recommendation by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for summoning the Assembly for the Budget Session saying that as per constitutional provision it must come from the state Cabinet PTI AMRPNT ACD JRC JRC JRC

Kolkata Feb 24 PTI In what may be a first of sorts in legislative history West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday summoned West Bengals legislature for a session past mid-night at 2 AM on March 7 Dhankar said he was merely acting on the recommendation of the Mamata Banerjee-led cabinet which he described as unusual though both state government officials as well as the states speaker Biman Banerjee said the request for calling the assembly session at 2 AM was a case of a simple typographical error where PM became AM If the session is indeed called at 2 AM at night it will mean legislators will have to literally burn the midnight oil as well as Governor Dhankar who would have to give his opening speech at that odd hour In a tweet Dhankar said that finding the timing of the session after midnight somewhat odd he had called the state Chief Secretary for urgent consultation before noon Thursday However there was usual compliance failure he complained Thereafter he took the decision to call the house at the late hour accepting the cabinet decision the Governor said Invoking article 174 1 of Constitution accepting Cabinet Decision Assembly has been summoned to meet on March 7 2022 at 200 AM he tweeted Assembly meeting after midnight at 200 AM is unusual and history of sorts in making but that is Cabinet Decision Dhankar added The Governor in his tweet pointed out the proposal in the cabinet memo which he received from the state cabinet said Now it is proposed that West Bengal Legislative Assembly may be summoned by Honble Governor on 7032022 at 2am The governor had earlier sent back a recommendation by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for summoning the Assembly for the Budget Session saying that as per constitutional provision it must come from the state Cabinet PTI AMR ACD JRC JRC JRC

Kolkata Feb 24 PTI In what may be a first of sorts in legislative history West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday summoned West Bengals legislature for a session well past mid-night at 2 AM on March 7 Dhankar said he was merely acting on the recommendation of the Mamata Banerjee-led cabinet which he described as unusual though both state government officials as well as the states speaker Biman Banerjee said the request for calling the assembly session at 2 AM was a case of a simple typographical error where PM became AM If the session is indeed called at 2 AM at night it will mean legislators will have to literally burn the midnight oil as well as Governor Dhankar who would have to give his opening speech at that odd hour Independent Indias Parliament held a session where Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made his famous tryst with destiny speech at the stroke of mid-night Both the Parliament and many state legislative assemblies have stretched their debates and discussions to timings past midnight to address urgent business but rarely if ever has a house been summoned at such a late hour In a tweet Dhankar said that finding the timing of the session after midnight somewhat odd he had called the state Chief Secretary for urgent consultation before noon Thursday However there was usual compliance failure he complained Thereafter he took the decision to call the house at the odd hour accepting the cabinet decision the Governor said Invoking article 174 1 of Constitution accepting Cabinet Decision Assembly has been summoned to meet on March 7 2022 at 200 AM he tweeted Assembly meeting after midnight at 200 AM is unusual and history of sorts in making but that is Cabinet Decision Dhankar added The Governor in his tweet pointed out the proposal in the cabinet memo which he received the state cabinet said Now it is proposed that West Bengal Legislative Assembly may be summoned by Honble Governor on 7032022 at 2am Reacting to the decision BJPs Suvendu Adhikari who is also the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly tweeted Midnight session State Governments head is in disorder The governor had earlier sent back a recommendation by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for summoning the Assembly for the Budget Session saying that as per constitutional provision it must come from the state Cabinet PTI AMR ACD JRC JRC JRC

Kolkata Jan 30 PTI West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary and launched another attack on the Mamata Banerjee government stating that he cannot see trampling of human rights and the state getting drenched in violence Asserting that no amount of insults will deter him from performing his duties Dhankhar said violence and democracy do not go together and urged all to become messenger of peace and non-violence as a tribute to the father of the nation I cannot see the hallowed land of Bengal getting blood drenched in violence and becoming a laboratory for trampling of human rights People are saying that the state is turning into a gas chamber of democracy Dhankhar said at Gandhi Ghat on the bank of Hooghly river at Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district He also said the situation had become such that the Calcutta High Court had to order the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission to form a fact-finding committee to probe into allegations of human rights violations in post-poll violence in West Bengal last year No amount of insults will deter me from my path It has not been appropriate for the chief minister of the state Mamata Banerjee to make derogatory remarks within and even outside the state he said Dhankhar said it has to be everyones effort to ensure that there is peace in the society in terms of the Constitution of the country The governor who has crossed swords with the Mamata Banerjee government over several issues since assuming charge in the state recently accused the chief minister and the speaker of the assembly of transgressing constitutional norms by not providing him the information he had sought on multiple matters He has had run-ins over appointments of vice chancellors of universities calling bureaucrats to his office for explanations On January 25 the governor after paying floral tributes at the statue of B R Ambedkar on the assembly premises had described the political condition in Bengal as horrible and frightening PTI AMR BDC BDC

Kolkata Dec 25 PTI Dismissing media reports that claimed he had approved exclusion of areas of Bally Municipality from the jurisdiction of Howrah civic body West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday said it is under consideration as inputs from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are awaited He had earlier accused the TMC government of not providing information he sought on Howrah Municipal Corporation amendment bill sent to him for his assent Taking to Twitter he said Reports in media that West Bengal Governor Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar has put his seal of approval on the Howrah Municipal Corporation Amendment Bill 2021 are not correct It is under consideration under Article 200 of Constitution as inputs MamataOfficial are awaited Article 200 of the Constitution empowers a governor to either give or withhold assent to a bill or reserve it for the consideration of the President The Howrah Municipal Corporation Amendment Bill 2021 that proposed to separate Bally Municipality from the jurisdiction of the HMC was passed by the state assembly recently Ruling Trinamool Congress spokesman Kunal Ghosh said The governor is going beyond his jurisdiction He should give assent to a bill passed by the house if he hasnt as he claims Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari said the governor has already pointed out that he has not given his nod to the bill It is upto the governor it is his discretion The TMC should not force him and use the gubernatorial office for its political gains he added West Bengal State Election Commissioner Saurav Das had called on Dhankhar on Friday and discussed issues related to pending municipal polls in the state amid allegations of rigging and intimidation against the ruling TMC by opposition camps during the December Kolkata Municipal Corporation election Election to 111 municipal bodies are due in West Bengal PTI SUS KK KK KK

Kolkata Dec 25 PTI Dismissing media reports that claimed he had approved exclusion of areas of Bally Municipality from the jurisdiction of Howrah civic body West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday said it is under consideration as inputs from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are awaited The governor had earlier accused the TMC government of not providing information he sought on Howrah Municipal Corporation amendment bill sent to him for his assent Taking to Twitter Dhankhar said Reports in media that West Bengal Governor Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar has put his seal of approval on the Howrah Municipal Corporation Amendment Bill 2021 are not correct It is under consideration under Article 200 of Constitution as inputs MamataOfficial are awaited Article 200 of the Constitution empowers a governor to either give or withhold assent to a bill or reserve it for the consideration of the President The Howrah Municipal Corporation Amendment Bill 2021 that proposed to separate Bally Municipality from the jurisdiction of the HMC was passed by the state assembly recently Meanwhile West Bengal State Election Commissioner Saurav Das called on Dhankhar on Friday and discussed issues related to pending polls to civic bodies in the state amid allegations of rigging and intimidation against the ruling TMC by opposition camps during the just-concluded Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections Elections to 111 municipal bodies are due in the state PTI SUS BDC BDC

Kolkata Dec 24 PTI West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday expressed anguish at chancellors and vice-chancellors of private universities in the state for not attending a meeting called by him at the Raj Bhavan here The governor had earlier invited them to a meeting on December 20 and later rescheduled it on Thursday after officials of the private universities had expressed their inability to attend it citing the COVID situation It is most unfortunate that chancellors and vice-chancellors of private universities 11 in number have not turned up for a meeting with the visitor who is also the governor of the state Dhankhar said A similar situation was faced in January 2020 when vice-chancellors of state universities were invited These developments are alarming and indicate rule of the ruler and not of law Such a scenario cannot be countenanced he said in a videographed address The video showed that chairs arranged for the meeting at the Raj Bhavan were empty Education scenario MamataOfficial worrisome as no Chancellor VC of Pvt Univ turned up for meeting with Governor-Visitor Shocking unionism Dhankhar said on Twitter The governor said the state government is making appointments of vice-chancellors ignoring the chancellor and he is being forced to take a strong view of such developments I direct all these appointments be revisited UGC needs to engage into serious probe about private universities as I find they are in breach of several regulations particularly qua the visitor Dhankhar said in the video which was uploaded on the microblogging site He also said there is a need to focus on improving the educational environment in the state It cannot be put under the control of the government it has to be in accordance with the law of the land the governor said Dhankhar had taken strong exception to the chancellors and vice-chancellors of private universities in the state for not attending the December 20 meeting terming it as an example of fear that pervades the state on account of authoritarianism in governance Claiming that the stance of the top officials of private universities in the state was indicative of crystallisation of unionism the governor had directed that the meeting be rescheduled for December 23 A communication to the private university officials said the premise indicated for not attending the meeting was inappropriate and unacceptable maintaining that all programmes at Raj Bhavan were conducted with full adherence to COVID protocol and disaster management stipulations PTI AMR BDC BDC

Kolkata Dec 23 PTI An association of Jadavpur University professors on Thursday wrote to West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Education Minister Bratya Basu requesting them to take immediate steps to fill up vacant posts of dean in arts and engineering faculties of the institute The Jadavpur University Teachers Association also pointed out that absence of chancellors nominees for Comparative Literature and Bengali departments is impeding academic activities There is no permanent dean either in the faculty of Arts or in the faculty of Engineering and Technology for a long time This seriously hampers various academic and administrative activities and functioning the JUTA said in the letters sent separately to Basu and Dhankhar the chancellor of the institute After the amendment of the Jadavpur University Act1981 in 2011 and 2012 the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies Law and Management was created and students have been admitted to various courses but the FISLM cannot award degrees as the universitys statutes have still not been amended JUTA general secretary Partha Pratim Ray said This is likely to cause considerable difficulties for students admitted to various courses of study under this faculty Such students may face problems with their degrees in future In such a situation we request you to either approve the amended statutes or close down this faculty We cannot keep on playing with our students future in this manner for an indefinite period of time Ray said in the letters PTI SUS BDC BDC