E-Paper
Bengal foundation day event is latest flashpoint in governor-government tussle
In a letter to Bose, Banerjee said: “I am stunned to know that you... commemorated what you peculiarly described as the ‘State Foundation of West Bengal’.”
West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose on Tuesday commemorated the state’s “foundation day”, despite strong objections raised by chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
“The advisory for the commemoration of foundation day of states was communicated by the Centre on May 11. The advisory proposed observing the foundation days of various states and UTs by all Raj Bhavans. Till now..., Raj Bhavan has already observed five state foundation days and the celebration of West Bengal Foundation Day was in the sequence suggested by the advisory,” the Raj Bhavan said.
Banerjee pointed out the state was not founded on any particular day, least of all on June 20, and that it was formed through the infamous Radcliffe award, referring to the demarcation of India-Pakistan and what is now the India-Bangladesh frontier.
In a letter to Bose on Monday, she said: “I am stunned and shocked to know that you have decided to organise a programme... commemorating what you have peculiarly chosen to describe as the ‘State Foundation of West Bengal’.” She cited a telephonic discussion and said Bose admitted that a “unilateral and non-consultative decision” to declare the state’s foundation day is unwarranted.
“Political parties which are celebrating... are doing so with a set narrative and agenda. We have spent our entire life in Bengal but never heard about any state foundation day. I believe one should not play politics with chair of the governor,” she said.
State BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar said: “It was on June 20, 1947, that the legislative assembly of Bengal met and took a decision on the Bengal partition. This is history. We cannot deny it.”
