Who's the boss?

Tensions between the Trinamool and Governor C.V. Ananda Bose escalate as assembly polls draw near

- BY PREMA RAJARAM

IN WEST BENGAL, the tussle between Governor C.V. Ananda Bose and the ruling Trinamool Congress recently intensified after TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee accused Bose of sheltering “BJP-backed criminals” inside Raj Bhavan and arming them “with guns and bombs” to target party workers. Bose soon took the unprecedented step of ordering an extraordinary search of the Raj Bhavan campus—by state police, Central forces, dog squads and bomb squads.

“Caesar's wife must be above suspicion; that applies to the governor as well,” Bose, who has been in office since November 2022, told THE WEEK. “When the wild allegation was made, I decided that the best thing to do was to show the truth as it is. They detected nothing. This was to uphold the credibility and dignity of the governor’s office.”

Banerjee, who has represented the state government at the Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court, has vowed to take the matter to court. Bose, unfazed, said he had already filed a police complaint against Banerjee for derogatory statements, which has resulted in Banerjee being booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). Banerjee has filed a counter-complaint at the same Hare Street police station, including charges of criminal conspiracy and acts endangering India’s sovereignty. "They decided to go to court; I am also going to court. So we are on the same page," Bose said.