In the past, too, Governor MK Narayanan has spoken out against what he felt were wrong decisions of the state government. On Thursday, as news of city police chief RK Pachnanda’s removal trickled in and reporters asked him about the issue, Narayanan was just as outspoken. “I don’t know the reason why the police commissioner has been removed… But if he was removed because of what happened in the last few days, quite clearly something is wrong and we need to look into it,” he said.

Ranjit Kumar Pachnanda, otherwise known as a ‘loyal’ officer, got sucked into Trinamool politics and paid the price.

This is, of course, not the first time that the Governor has embarrassed the state government by his comments. During the Bhangar violence, when a former minister was beaten up by Trinamool supporters, Narayanan had unequivocally condemned the “goondaism” rampant under the present administration. “I believe it is the responsibility of the administration to ensure that law and order is maintained and, whoever is responsible, action has to be taken,” he had said.

Narayanan was also critical of the campus violence that was fast engulfing colleges and universities of the state. “The administration and college authorities should take steps to see such incidents don’t recur. This way, the relations between students and teachers will also improve,” he had said.

More recently, when state panchayat minister and senior Trinamool leader Subrata Mukherjee criticised the Governor for speaking like a politician on the political violence sweeping the state, Narayanan had said, “I am a Governor and I speak the language of a Governor.”