A day after the Trinamool Congress highlighted a case of a woman contractual staffer at the Raj Bhavan accusing West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose of sexual harassment, he released a strongly worded audio message on Friday, saying: “Waiting for the next grenade and your hidden bullets…. Please fire”.
Describing the allegations as “absurd drama”, Bose, in an apparent reference to the ruling Trinamool Congress, said that nothing would deter him from his efforts to “expose corruption and curb violence”.
“I have braved many storms. I tell the political party that is plotting against me, this is no storm. This is only a storm in a teacup. Do not be surprised if you realise I am the storm.
Bring out all the weapons from your armoury. Use it against me. I am willing. I am prepared. I shall continue my fight for the dignity and respect of my brothers and sisters of Bengal,” he stated.
The Governor also warned staff of “a more sinister plot being hatched in Raj Bhavan”.
“Dear members of the Raj Bhavan staff. I welcome all generous allegations and the frequent innuendos passed on me by a political force. I understand there is more in the offing. But one thing is clear. None of the absurd dramas is going to deter me from a determined effort to expose corruption and curb violence.
“Character assassination is the last resort of a failing malevolence. Those who engineer these filthy narratives have totally moribund character…,” the Governor said in his message in English.
On Thursday afternoon, hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to visit the Raj Bhavan, a woman employee lodged a police complaint accusing Bose of sexual harassment. As the issue was highlighted by Trinamool leaders, the Governor hit back saying the “truth would triumph,” and he would not be “cowed down by engineered narratives”.
On Friday, Bose said: “Now I have information, my friends, that a more sinister plot has been hatched in the Raj Bhavan. We know the characters responsible for this. Beware.”
“I will not be surprised if I am blamed for the Bengal famine in 1943 or the infamous Great Calcutta Killings of 1946. That is the nature of the political forces working in the State.
Please take it from me. I did not come to Bengal for rest and relaxation. I did not come to Bengal to walk on level ground,” Bose added. “I know Bengal is an uphill task. I am scaling the mountain. People’s love drives me and motivates me,” he further said.
“I am not surprised. I was briefed about what I can expect in Bengal by certain political parties. I have braved many storms. I tell the political party that is plotting against me, this is no storm. This is a storm in a teacup.
“Do not be surprised if you realize I am the storm. At least now the politico should realize that I would like to be the captain of the storm, not captain of the calm…,” the Governor said. “Bring out all weapons from your armoury, use them against me. I am willing. I am prepared. Sorry, my detractors, I have learned the lesson to fight, not flight. Waiting for the next grenade and your hidden bullets. Yes, with great expectations. Please fire, I am willing to receive it,” Bose added. “I am only assuring my brothers and sisters of Bengal…‘Ayi Lorai Ami Lorbo’. I shall continue my fight for the dignity and respect of brothers and sisters of Bengal,” the Governor further said.
A Raj Bhavan statement said: “The Governor banned police entry into Raj Bhavan premises under the guise of conducting unauthorised, illegitimate, sham and motivated investigation to placate political bosses during elections.”
The Trinamool Congress too kept up the pressure on the Governor.
Speaking at a press conference in Kolkata on Friday, a day after the Governor banned the entry of State Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya into the Raj Bhavan premises, State Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja said: “Governor is in arrogance mode and banned our Finance Minister from entering Raj Bhavan.
Did he ever think that we were willing to go there? After this allegation, are we ready to enter that place? Ask us first.”
“Such an allegation against a Governor never happened before. This has certainly demeaned the prestige of the chair of the Governor. We demand that an impartial inquiry should be done,” Panja told reporters.
She said that the same Governor had gone to Sandeshkhali and listened to the allegations made by women of the region regarding sexual harassment they were subjected to by local Trinamool Congress leaders.
“Now the same person is facing a similar allegation made by a woman employee of Raj Bhavan. The Governor is in the same boat then,” she said.
Questioning this immunity granted to Governors by the Constitution, Panja said: “What the Governor allegedly committed is a crime. Then why this immunity? The law cannot be different.”
Shashi Panja said: “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?”
Senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said: “I support the statement that has come from Raj Bhavan. It is a heinous conspiracy by Mamata Banerjee.”
