‘No point in carrying baggage of the past’: Dhankhar confident about working together with Mamata government

KOLKATA: Two days after a senior West Bengal minister met him at the Raj Bhavan, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said he is confident about fulfilling constitutional obligations by working together with the state government.

Dhankhar, who was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme here, said there is “no point in carrying the baggage of past”.

“There is not a little bit of doubt that we have to work together, we have to fulfill our constitutional obligations, with dignity,” the governor said after his meeting with the Education Minister Partha Chatterjee at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday.

Alluding to his acrimonious exchanges with the state government on several occasions since his visit to Jadavpur University on September 19 to ‘rescue’ Union minister Babul Supriyo from gherao of students, Dhankhar said “We don’t carry the baggage which is obsolete, which is not for remembering.”

“Let us count on the positives, let us move forward in that spirit. This is my appeal,” Dhankhar said.

Dhankhar’s comments were preceded by his meeting with Chatterjee on December 31 which discussed the cancellation of recent programmes in state-run universities and protests in some of them.

The governor had on December 28 tweeted a letter sent to him by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in response to his offer for talks over matters related to state-aided varsities.

The chief minister’s letter said, “The subject pertains to the Department of Education. I am forwarding the letter to the Minister-in-Charge Education Department, Partha Chatterjee to discuss all issues with you at a convenient time.”

Dhankhar, who has supported the contentious amended Citizenship Act while the Trinamool Congress is opposing it, had to return from the gates of the Jadavpur University on December 24 after the TMC-run employees’ union prevented him from entering the varsity premises to attend its annual convocation.