West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday appointed the next vice chancellor of the Rabindra Bharati University, reported PTI. Dr Mahua Mukherjee, a professor in the university’s department of dance, will replace Sabyasachi Basu Roy as the chancellor.

The announcement came even as the West Bengal Assembly passed a Bill on June 13 to replace Dhankhar with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the chancellor of all state-run universities.

Since the Bill has not received the governor’s approval, Dhankhar still holds the position of the chancellor.

In a tweet, Dhankhar attached a list of three names recommended by the government’s search committee for the next vice chancellor. Dhankhar chose Mukherjee from the recommendations.

“Dr Mahua Mukherjee, whose name appears at serial number 1 in the recommendation of the search committee is hereby appointed as Vice Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University in terms of Section 9(1)(b) of the Rabindra Bharati Act, 1981,” Dhankhar said. “The directive be implemented forthwith and this office may be updated latest by July 4, 2022.”

The Trinamool Congress has opposed the decision.

“The governor has once again proved he does not believe in democratic principles and federalism,” Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

He accused Dhankhar of hastily announcing name of the new vice chancellor, reported PTI.

“He did not bother to take into confidence the education minister and chief minister before the announcement,” Ghosh added. “He is exceeding his brief.”

Dhankhar and Banerjee have criticised each other a number of times over several matters since he took over the post in 2019.

Dhankhar has been a vocal critic of the Mamata Banerjee government. On her part, Banerjee has accused Dhankhar of being a mouthpiece of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government. She has alleged that the governor interferes with the state government’s functioning.

In January, Dhankhar had alleged that the state government appointed 25 university vice chancellors without his consent. In response, the state government had claimed that the education department has the right to appoint vice chancellors selected by the search committee if Dhankhar refused to approve the names.

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