Tension mounting between Raj Bhavan and Bengal govt over replacement of Guv's principal secy

Kolkata, Feb 13 (IANS) Indications are clear that the Raj Bhavan-state secretariat honeymoon period in West Bengal is moving towards its end.

Despite an official request from the Raj Bhavan to the state secretariat on Sunday for replacement of Governor C.V. Ananda Bose's current Principal Secretary Nandini Chakroborty with immediate effect, no reply or initiative on this count has come from the state government so far.

On Monday also, the Governor's House reportedly informed the state secretariat Nabanna about Chakroborty being released from her current assignment.

An official from the personnel and administrative reforms department said that in case of replacement of the principal secretary, the chief secretary will have to issue a notification after a formal instruction or approval from the Governor for the replacement.

"The Governor is in Delhi now and in my opinion things are held up for that reason only," the official said.

He also pointed out that the appointing authority of the principal secretary to the Governor is the state government, which generally honours the suggestions of the Governor on this count.

The question that is doing the rounds is whether the state secretariat will soon take a decision and announce the replacement of Chakroborty or will it prefer her to continue in her post.

Political observers feel that in case of the second development, it can be said that the issue of replacement of the principal secretary will mark the beginning of another chapter of Raj Bhavan-secretariat tiff as was evident during the tenure of previous Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is currently the Vice President of India.

Political observers feel that the timing of the Governor House seeking the replacement has also made the entire sequence of events interesting. The formal request for the replacement came just a day after state BJP President Sukanta Majumdar called on the Governor to apprise him of the existing situation in the state.

In fact, the state BJP leadership, especially the leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari, has been up in arms against Chakroborty for quite some time now. In fact, Adhikari has also accused Chakroborty of acting as "an implant" of the state government in the Raj Bhavan and "misleading" the Governor.

Chakroborty, a 1994-batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre, was appointed as Principal Secretary to the Governor during the term of the interim Governor, La Ganesan. After Ananda Bose took charge, she continued in her post.

She played a leading role in the "hate khori" (beginning of learning) of Ananda Bose in Bengali language at the Governor's House on January 26 on the twin occasions of Republic Day and Saraswati Puja, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the chief guest.