The confrontation between West Bengal Governor C. V. Ananda Bose and TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee has entered a volatile phase, with Raj Bhavan seeking legal opinion and the Trinamool declaring it is ready for a courtroom battle.
The clash ignited after Bose defended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process on Saturday, calling it essential to “clean up the election process”.
Within hours, Banerjee accused him of “sheltering BJP criminals” inside Raj Bhavan and “arming them with bombs and guns,” triggering response from the Governor’s office.
A Raj Bhavan official told PTI, “The governor is seeking legal opinion against Banerjee for his comments on Saturday. The Raj Bhavan's doors have been kept open from 5 am and he is waiting for Banerjee to visit and inspect to gather evidence for the points he made.”
The official said: “Should he (Banerjee) fail to prove what he said, then why shouldn't a legal proceeding be initiated against him? The governor is also writing to the Lok Sabha Speaker to conduct an inquiry into the matter, since the TMC MP has made grave allegations.”
Raj Bhavan has listed Sections 151, 152 and 353 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, covering restraint of a Governor, sedition, and statements causing public mischief.
Banerjee shot back immediately, calling Bose a “BJP agent” and accusing him of using Raj Bhavan to issue “anti-West Bengal and anti-people statements”.
“If he initiates legal proceedings against me for uttering the truth, does he think I will sit idle?” he said. “For around three years, we (TMC) have shown him courtesy and respect. But he continues to lower the dignity of Raj Bhavan and the hallowed post by his act.”
An official said Bose used a line from Shakespeare’s Macbeth to describe the MP’s remarks: “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
According to the official, the verse was aimed at someone “incriminatingly derogatory and invective”.
Banerjee, accused the governor of “parroting the doctored speeches and scripts of his political masters in Delhi”, and warned that the TMC would file an FIR “in each police station of the state” every time Bose makes a statement they deem false.
He also accused Bose of misusing constitutional protections. “He may have the protection but as common man, we also have rights given by the Constitution to protest against falsehood, motivated campaigns, threats and coercion,” Banerjee said.
Bose had earlier maintained that the SIR process was intended to remove discrepancies in electoral rolls, pointing to Bihar’s recent experience. “I am sure the people of Bengal will also accept it,” he said.
Banerjee dismissed the defence entirely and repeated his claim: “First, tell the governor not to shelter BJP's criminals in Raj Bhavan. He (Bose) is keeping offenders there, giving them guns and bombs, and telling them to attack Trinamool workers. Let him stop this first.”
He said: “As long as this BJP's servant of a governor stays, no good will happen in West Bengal.”
