Fresh war of words between Bengal minister, Guv over varsity

Snubbing Governor Jagdeep Dhankar's proposal to hold a discussion over the recent programme cancellations and protests at state-run varsities, Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee on Sunday took to Twitter to provide the state government's perspective on the incidents.

Dhankhar had on Saturday shared on the micro-blogging site 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 CM, in the letter, said the subject "pertains to the Department of Education, I am forwarding the letter to Minister-in-Charge Education department Partha Chatterjee to discuss all issues with you at a convenient time".

Attaching an image of the official communication from the CMO, Dhankhar, who is also the chancellor of state universities, said that "efforts to ensure improvement in education scenario seem to be bearing results".

Chatterjee, however, chose to tweet details of programme cancellations and the December 24 incident at Jadavpur University (JU), when Dhankhar was stopped from entering the campus by non-teaching employees -- triggering a fresh war of words between the two sides.

The governor said he was "frankly amused" with the education minister's gesture.

In his tweet, Chatterjee wrote, "As you (Dhankhar) have posted a letter of Hon'ble CM to you on a social media platform, I (am) hereby posting necessary details through the same mode for your kind information..."