A long-running dispute between West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress government and Governor C V Ananda Bose intensified on Thursday when the TMC brought attention to the case of a contractual employee of Raj Bhavan who claimed the Governor had “molested” her. In retaliation, Bose declared that he would not be “cowed down by engineered narratives” and that “truth would triumph.”
Senior TMC officials said that the woman was brought to a police station where she lodged her complaint, which is when Bose made his testimony. When approached, Bose stated to The Indian Express, “God bless them if they want to malign me in order to gain some election benefits.” However, they are powerless to stop me from fighting Bengali brutality and corruption.
By the way, on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at Raj Bhawan, where he would spend the night. He is expected to speak at three electoral rallies in the Lok Sabha constituencies of Birbhum, Bolpur, and Krishnanagar on Friday.
The woman allegedly mentioned two meetings—one on April 24 and the other on Thursday—in her complaint filed at the Hare Street police station.
In her police complaint, the woman said she works at Raj Bhawan on a contractual basis, and stays in the staff quarters. It states: “On 19.4.24, Governor sir told me to take some time out and to meet him with my CV. On 24.04.2024, at around 12.45 pm, he called me to his office room and, after some discussion, touched me. I somehow managed to leave the office room. He called me once again today, 02.05.2024. I took my supervisor along with me to the conference room because I was scared. After talking for a while about work, he asked the supervisor to leave. He prolonged the conversation by talking about my promotion. He said he will call me at night and asked me not to tell anyone. When I refused, he tried to touch me. I protested and left.”
A news report, quoting sources in Raj Bhawan, said that the woman, with the help of a colleague, was “blocking complaints (from people) being sent to the Election Commission of India.” And that when she was “reprimanded for that,” she alleged molestation.
Confirming the complaint, Deputy Commissioner of Central Division Indira Mukherjee said: “Around 5 pm, a complaint was lodged at the police outpost. It was forwarded to Hare Street police station. The complaint is against His Excellency the Governor. An inquiry is on.”
Asked about the immunity the Governor has under Article 361 of the Constitution, Mukherjee said: “A woman lodged a complaint and we are duty bound to conduct an enquiry. It is a sensitive complaint. We will talk to our law department and constitutional experts. I cannot divulge details but, according to the complaint, the incidents happened inside Raj Bhawan — and more than once. We have spoken to the woman too.”
Leaders of the Trinamool Congress criticised Bose. Sagarika Ghose, TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP, posted online: “Ahead of Narendra Modi’s visit to Kolkata… a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj Bhavan today (Thursday)… Shocking and disgraceful.”
Chandrima Bhattacharya, the state’s Finance Minister, said, “What is this? The PM will come tonight and stay in Raj Bhawan. At this time, there is an allegation against the Governor for atrocities against a woman… It is a shame.”
In a statement issued Thursday night, Raj Bhawan hit back at the minister: “For defamation and anti-constitutional media statements against the Governor… Chandrima Bhattacharya has been banned (from) entry into the Raj Bhavan premises of Kolkata, Darjeeling and Barrackpore. The Governor has also instructed that he will not participate in any function attended by the Minister. The Attorney General of India has been contacted for advice on further legal steps against the Minister.”
The governor also banned the entry of police into Raj Bhavan premises under the guise of “conducting unauthorised, illegitimate, sham and motivated ‘investigation’ to placate political bosses during elections,” the statement added.
Said West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja, “This is the same Governor who had reached out to Sandeshkhali to talk about women’s rights and Nari Shakti. This is shameful that the Governor sought undue advantages on the pretext of giving her a permanent job. We want Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be addressing rallies in Bengal tomorrow, to react on this issue.”
Issues the Governor and the state government have sparred on range from a “peace room” being opened at Raj Bhawan where anyone can lodge a complaint of violence and intimidation to the TMC filing a complaint with the Election Commission recently over Bose’s proposed visit to Cooch Behar.
“We all know that the TMC is politically cornered on the issue of (teachers’ recruitment) scam and is looking for breathing space. So this needs to be seen whether this is a conspiracy by the TMC or it has any iota of truth in it,” said BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.
