Only believe in protecting the Constitution, says WB guv

Describing himself as an "accidental governor", West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said that he has no agenda and only believes in protecting the Constitution. The ruling Trinamool Congress has accused Dhankhar of not being neutral and making politically biased statements against government officers and departments.

Kolkata:In the eye of a storm since his visit to Jadavpur University during the heckling of Union minister Babul Supriyo last week, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said that he has no agenda and only believes in protecting the Constitution.

Describing himself as an "accidental governor", he said that he met the prime minister for the first time only after being appointed as the West Bengal's Constitutional head.

"I am one who has no agenda at all. But I will ensure the oath is never flouted," Dhankhar who was appointed as the state's governor in July, said that while addressing a meeting at the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce here.

The ruling Trinamool Congress has accused Dhankhar of not being neutral and making politically biased statements against government officers and departments.

The relation between the state government and the governor was strained over the Jadavpur University fracas on September 19, when Union minister Babul Supriyo was heckled and held up in the university campus by a section of students and Dhankhar reached there to "rescue" him.

On Tuesday, no minister and state government officials were present at a meeting called by the governor at Siliguri during his first visit outside Kolkata, and Dhankhar expressed his displeasure saying, "I imagine their absence must be on account of unavoidable state commitments."

However, on Thursday's programme, he hinted that he wanted to work in harmony with the state government,

"I have seen under the present chief minister development is taking place. When I went to Siliguri, I found good roads, new bridges and the convention centre is one of the best in India.
The first thing I did was sending a message to Hon'ble CM and she quickly responded," Dhankhar said.

Dhankhar recalled when he came to Kolkata, many people had told him "you are going to face tremendous stress."

"However, here I found if there is a problem there are able people to resolve it," he said.

He said that apart from being the governor, he is the chancellor of universities in the state.

"We have to believe in our students, we have to give students all the opportunities to develop their potential. If there is something wrong, somewhere we can't turn Nelson's eye to such situations," he said.

Before coming to the programme, the governor said that he met Vice-Chancellor Suranjan Das and two other senior officials of Jadavpur University and discussed ensuring academic excellence of the institute.

"I told them to seek the assistance of former VCs if required and if there is an issue with the government, I (will) take a bullet on my chest," Dhankhar told the audience consisting of businessmen and people from different walks of life in the city.

"If we are not accountable to the future generation, it will be an injustice to Kolkata and West Bengal. We need to re-invent, rediscover the glory of Kolkata, with talent and human resources," he said.