West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress on Thursday claimed that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was not invited by the authorities of Visva Bharati University on the occasion of centenary celebrations of the central varsity founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
West Bengal Minister for Science and Technology Bratya Basu said that Banerjee was not invited at the centenary celebrations which were virtually addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Mamata Banerjee is the Chief Minister of West Bengal and inviting her at the occasion is very much under the official protocol. We have not received any official communication from the university authorities. Is this the way to treat the Chief Minister of a state?” Basu said.
Asked about the letter that was signed by the vice-chancellor and sent to the CM’s office, the minister said: “Do they have the receipt copy of the letter? The vice-chancellor signed the letter and kept it with him only.”
Meanwhile, the CM tweeted on the occasion of centenary celebrations at the Visva Bharati this morning and said the vision and philosophy of Tagore at Santiniketan must be preserved.
“Visva Bharati University turns 100. This temple of learning was Rabindranath Tagore’s greatest experiment on creating the ideal human being. We must preserve the vision and philosophy of this great visionary,” Banerjee said.
Located at Santiniketan in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, Visva Bharati was established in 1921 and it received the status of a central university by an Act of Parliament in 1951.
