Kolkata: The West Bengal assembly on Monday passed a bill to replace Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the chancellor of all state-run universities, amidst opposition of the BJP MLAs.
State education minister Bratya Basu, after introducing The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the House, said that there was nothing wrong in chief minister taking over as the chancellor.
“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?” Basu questioned.
The Bill was passed after 182 members voted in favour of the legislation and 40 against it in the 294-member Assembly.
Opposing the Bill, the BJP alleged that appointing the chief minister as chancellor of state-run universities would lead to direct political interference in the state higher education system.
