• TMC demands West Bengal Governor Ananda Bose resign over another complaint by woman
    Indian Express | 17 May 2024
  • Police in Kolkata have submitted a report to the state secretariat in connection with a complaint filed against West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose by a woman last year. “It is a 7-8 month old complaint related to which a report has been submitted four days ago,” Additional Commissioner of Police, Murlidhar Sharma, told The Indian Express.

    Sharma did not elaborate on the contents of the complaint or the report. The Raj Bhawan did not respond to queries seeking a comment on the development.

    The development prompted the Trinamool Congress to yet again demand Bose’s resignation. “Another case surfaces: C V Ananda Bose yet again accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Delhi in 2023. Will the President finally hold this serial offender accountable?” TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose alleged on X.

    Sources said the complaint was filed by a woman at Nabanna, the state secretariat, in connection with an alleged incident that took place in Delhi in January last year. It was then forwarded to the police, who investigated the allegations and submitted a report to the Home department at Nabanna.

    Bose has been at the centre of a storm ever since a woman contractual staffer at Raj Bhavan accused him of molesting her. Bose maintains the charges are “engineered narratives” meant to “stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal”.

    In a statement, the contractual staffer also reacted to the fresh allegations against Bose: “I don’t know whether he can still hold any constitutional post and enjoy immunity even after today’s news…”

    Following the staffer’s complaint, the governor had banned the entry of police into Raj Bhavan premises “under the guise of conducting unauthorised, illegitimate, sham and motivated ‘investigation’ to placate political bosses during elections”. Constitutional immunity bars the police from naming the governor as an accused or investigating the case.

    Incidentally, on October 15 last year, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh had first alluded to the alleged incident, posting on X, “Allegations of rape and harassment have been levelled against a top official of the state…. Commissioner of police has sent the file along with the complaint letter to the secretariat, Nabanna. This much for now.”

    Meanwhile, leader of opposition, BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, said , “Mamata is being abused wherever she goes, so the Trinamool is playing dirty politics with the Governor and Sandeshkhali to win the election.”

    The TMC is also planning a protest over the issue.

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