Varsity convocation to be attended by Bengal governor abruptly

The annual convocation of tech university MAKAUT, scheduled to be attended by West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its chancellor, has been cancelled due to "unavoidable circumstances", officials said on Wednesday.

The abrupt cancellation of the convocation, which was supposed to be held at the university's main campus in Haringhata in Nadia distrct, comes amid heightened tensions between the governor and the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress dispensation in the state.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT) authorities in a statement said due to "unavoidable circumstances" the convocation has been cancelled until further notice.

Vice Chancellor Saikat Moitra was not available for comments and when MAKAUT assistant registrar Anup Kumar Mukherjee was asked about the reason behind the sudden cancellation, he said he has received the notice and can say nothing more about it.

Sources said the convocation was cancelled after a meeting among MAKAUT officials in the morning, following the state government's move to curb the governor's powers over varsities.

Universities in the state will have the power to call meetings of their highest decision making bodies without consulting the state's governor, their chancellor, if a "rule" tabled by the TMC government on Tuesday is endorsed by the state assembly.

This comes amid a running feud between Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who have quarrelled over a host of issues in the last few months.

Dhankhar had recently alleged he was not consulted about important decisions that were taken by authorities of various state universities.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly accused the governor of trying to run a "parallel government" in the state.