Calcutta, March 7 :     As a political storm exploded over the appointment of Surabhi Banerjee as pro-vice-chancellor of Calcutta University, chief minister Jyoti Basu threw his weight behind her, saying her only drawback is that ?she is my biographer?. Basu told The Telegraph tonight Banerjee earned the prestigious chair on the strength of her ?brilliant academic career?. ?Have you people seen her CV? It runs into 10 pages and I can only tell you it?s formidable. She is eminently suitable for the post,? Basu said. ?Don?t think for a moment that she is a stranger to the university. She has been a well-known professor of English there for years.? According to Basu, the proposal for appointing Banerjee as the pro-vice-chancellor (academic) came up for his approval only after it was cleared by the ruling Left Front?s education cell. ?When they (the cell) sought my opinion, I gave my affirmative decision because she is a Shakespearean scholar and we found her to be the most deserving candidate,? he added. Basu?s defence of the appointment came amid sharp reactions from the opposition Congress, Trinamul Congress and BJP. The BJP sought to transform the issue into a flashpoint for a fresh Centre-state stand-off, urging Union human resources development minister Murli Manohar Joshi to look into the appointment. The party will also submit a report to the Prime Minister. Trinamul leader Mamata Banerjee said she would meet the Governor tomorrow to lodge a protest against this ?political appointment?. The state Congress said the party would also move the Governor. ?From now on, if one wants to become the vice-chancellor of a university in Bengal, all he or she has to do is write Jyoti Basu?s biography, ? Mamata said. She would not launch any agitation immediately as Madhyamik examinations were on. But the Congress said Chhatra Parishad, its student wing, would launch a state-wide agitation from tomorrow.