Kolkata: Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has said he would socially boycott Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. In practice, it translates to not sharing any public platform with the Chief Minister, he added. Terming her "Lady Macbeth" he said currently there has been violence everywhere n the state, be it cities, towns, villages or hospitals.
"I will socially boycott the Chief minister. Socially means I will never share any stage with the Chief Minister. I will not attend any meeting where the Chief Minister is present," the Governor said in a video message released by his office.
"I will take proactive steps against her for violating Constitutional provisions. My role as the Governor will be confined to the Constitutional obligations," Mr Bose said in the video message.
"I stand committed to the Constitution, the people of Bengal, the parents of the victim of RG Kar and the people who are fighting for justice," he said. "In my assessment, the government has failed in its duties... this is due to a big dilemma - that the health minister is the home minister, the home minister is the Chief Minister," he added, in a jibe at Mamata Banerjee, who holds the health and the home portfolios.
The Governor also expressed anguish over the state government ignoring his advice to take action against Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal.
The protesting students have blamed the city police chief for lapses in handling the probe into the rape-murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College.
The investigation was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI after directions from the Calcutta High Court.
Complaints about multiple lapses have been made at the Supreme Court, which has taken up the case on its own. The three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, has pointed out quite a few, including missing challans and incomplete postmortem report.
The way the police chief approached the case was highly suspicious, and can be described as a sort of "criminal activity" for which legal action should be taken against him, Mr Bose said.
Arguing that the Governor he cannot remain silent in such a situation, he said, "The state Secretariat will not be able to suppress the distrust (of the people) for long. The truth will surface".
"You can fool some people for some time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time," he added.