‘Engineered narrative, more in the offing,’ says Bengal Governor after sexual harassment allegations
‘Engineered narrative, more in the offing,’ says Bengal Governor after sexual harassment allegations
Kolkata: A day after a woman staffer of Raj Bhavan levelled allegations of sexual harassment against the West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, Raj Bhavan released a fresh statement Friday afternoon claiming conspiracy to malign the image of the Constitutional Head.
In an audio message shared by the Raj Bhavan, Governor Bose remarked that he welcomed the “generous allegations” against him. “There is more in the offing, but one thing is clear, none of the absurd drama is going to deter me from determined efforts to expose corruption and curb violence. Character assassination is the last resort of a failing benevolence. Those who engineer these filthy narratives are totally morally corrupt,” he said, in his first response to the allegations.
The statement issued by Raj Bhavan Friday afternoon read, “To dear members of the Raj Bhavan staff, Raj Bhavan received a confidential report that political forces have planted one more person in the Raj Bhavan with sinister intent. Matter is being verified by concerned agencies. These are just election ploys, nothing more, nothing less.”
The West Bengal governor said that he would not be surprised if he was blamed for the Bengal famine of 1943 or the infamous Calcutta killings of 1946, going by the nature of “political forces” in the state, without naming the ruling party Trinamool Congress.
“I know Bengal is an uphill task, I am scaling the mountain. I am not surprised; I was briefed on what I can expect in Bengal from certain political parties. I have braved many storms. This is no storm; this is a storm in a teacup. I am the storm. Bring out all your weapons from the armory, I am prepared. Waiting for the next grenade, I am willing to receive it. I will continue the fight for the dignity of my brothers and sisters of Bengal,” he added.
At around 5 pm Thursday, the Kolkata Police outpost at Raj Bhavan had received a written complaint from a contractual employee of Raj Bhavan, accusing the governor of ‘touching her inappropriately’ in his chamber on two occasions. The complaint had come hours before the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kolkata Raj Bhavan for a scheduled night halt. The complaint had then been sent to Hare Street Police Station.
Indira Mukherjee, Deputy Commissioner of Police-Central, told ThePrint that there was no move on the complaint so far because of VVIP movement in the city due to the prime minister’s visit. The PM will hold public rallies in several districts, including Nadia and Birbhum, and will leave for Jharkhand thereafter.
However, the governor enjoys legal immunity under Article 361 of the Constitution just like the President of the country. According to this section, the president, or the governor shall not be answerable to any court for the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of his office, or for any act done or purporting to be done by him in the exercise and performance of those powers and duties.
Sources have told ThePrint that the state’s Home Department has also been kept in the loop by the Kolkata Police regarding the matter
In a written complaint seen by ThePrint, the staffer said that on 24 April, she was asked to meet the Governor with her resume. She went to the Governor’s office at 12.45 pm and after speaking to her, he allegedly “touched her inappropriately”. On 2 May, he called her again, and this time, she took the supervisor along with her to the conference room. But after he asked the supervisor to leave, he reportedly “touched her inappropriately” again, and said that he would call her at night. The complaint, written in Bangla, is addressed to the officer-in-charge at Raj Bhavan.
ThePrint reached out to the complainant, but she declined to comment, saying the police have barred her from talking to anyone now. According to the letter, the 29-year-old staffer is a resident of Purba Medinipur district, and has been working at Raj Bhavan since June 2019, and resides in the hostel in the premises.
Another employee at Raj Bhavan, working with the complainant at the ‘peace room’, set up by the governor as a helpline for citizens’ grievances, said that the complainant’s body language on both the dates, mentioned in the complaint letter, did not seem different. Speaking to ThePrint on condition of anonymity, she said, “I still cannot believe such allegations have been made against the governor. I have been working at Raj Bhavan for over 15 years, but have never come across anything like this. I am a woman; I have never faced such instances.”
She went on to say that Bose had come down to the ‘peace room’ and inquired about the Lok Sabha violence and corruption emails that had been received. “I greeted him with a good morning, he stood at the door and asked how many emails had been received, and if they had been sent to the Chief Election Officer. I have never seen him misbehave or behave in a manner that would make anyone uncomfortable. He saw himself as people’s governor, he would always check what the problems are. Such allegations against him seem unimaginable to me,” she added.
According to other staff members at the Raj Bhavan, Bose had left for Kerala, his hometown, for casting his ballot, and had cut his trip short to return on 1 May for the PM’s visit to Kolkata. “On 2 May, SPG had taken over the security of Raj Bhavan, there was lots going on. I was on the morning shift and left in the afternoon. She (complainant) was on the evening shift and even came to the office to collect her security badge from the police for the PM’s visit. She had not told anyone such an incident had occurred. She was working and talking as normal, which is what took us all by surprise,” said an employee.
The complaint has kicked up a political storm in West Bengal. Not only has the TMC targeted the Governor, but also sought his resignation. TMC leader and minister Shashi Panja told ThePrint, “The Prime Minister did not utter a single word on the molestation allegations against the Governor. I want to ask him, where did he spend the night in Kolkata?”
Meanwhile, Raj Bhavan has banned the entry of Kolkata Police in the premises to conduct any probe.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)