Kolkata: The West Bengal Assembly on Monday passed a bill by a majority vote that seeks to replace Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the chancellor of all state-run universities.
After about two hours of intense debate amid protest from the opposition BJP, the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, was passed by 182 votes in favour against 40.
Education minister Bratya Basu, after introducing Bill, said in the assembly that it was not wrong for the chief minister to take over the role of chancellor, which had been held by the governor until now.
“Why can’t the chief minister be the chancellor of state universities if the Prime Minister is the chancellor of a central university- Visva Bharati? You can go through the recommendations of the Punchhi Commission, ” Basu said.
He also accused the governor of violating the protocol in many cases which hampered the development of the state.
The bill was passed after 182 members voted in favour of the legislation and 40 against it in the 294-member Assembly.
