Kolkata(West Bengal): Amidst the ongoing tussle between Nabanna - the state secretariat and Raj Bhawan, chief minister Mamata Banerjee called on Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at his residence on Thursday evening. The chief minister who was with the Dhankahr couple for half-an-hour, offered her own painting to them.
"WB Chief Minister Smt. Mamata Banerjee presented her painting to the Governor Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar at Raj Bhawan today," Dhankhar tweeted.
Though the meeting is officially termed as a 'courtesy call' but her surprise visit just before the monsoon session is enough to trigger speculation. According to political experts the chief minister's visit comes at a time when the state government is likely to table the very important 'West Bengal University laws Amendment Bill' where it has been proposed that the chief minister will become the chancellor of all the state-run universities in place of the governor. The proposal has already been approved by the cabinet.
The state cabinet has also approved the 'Private Universities Amendment Bill' where it has proposed to remove the Governor as Visitor to private universities. This Bill is also likely to come up in the monsoon session of the assembly.
"It is likely that the the chief minister was trying to take the governor into confidence before the tabling of the bills. The Bills cannot be implemented with the authorisation of the governor. In that case the role of the governor becomes very significant," a senior Trinamool Congress leader told on condition of anonymity.
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Meanwhile, a group of job seekers rushed in front of the Raj Bhavan after coming to know that the Chief Minister had come to meet the Governor. Since the job seekers went to meet the CM at Nabbanna Kolkata Police stopped them. On Friday they were trying to meet the Chief Minister and claimed that they have come to meet the chief minister to express their sorrow regarding the availability of the jobs.
