Bengal Governor's "Midnight Action" Warning Amid University Appointments Row

A day after state Education Minister Bratya Basu accused him of trying to "destroy" the higher education system in the state and running a "puppet regime" in the universities, Governor C V Ananda Bose Saturday warned of much bigger action at midnight.

"Wait for the stroke of midnight today. You will see what is action," Mr Bose told reporters on the sidelines of a programme here.

Within minutes, Mr Basu without naming the governor mocked him by calling him the "new vampire in town" and cautioned the people to "beware of him".

"See till midnight, see the action" BEWARE! BEWARE! BEWARE! New Vampire in the town! Citizens please watch yourselves. Eagerly waiting for the "Rakkhas Prahar" (monster prahar), according to Indian Mythology!," Mr Basu posted on 'X'.

In the continuing war of words between the West Bengal government and the Raj Bhavan over the appointment of interim vice-chancellors in universities, Mr Basu on Friday accused the governor of trying to "destroy" the higher education system in the state.

The minister also charged the governor, who is also the chancellor of state-run universities, with running a "puppet regime" in the universities and threatening registrars not to hold meetings with the higher education department.

"The honourable governor wants to run a puppet regime by appointing people according to his whims to satisfy someone's ego. He is making a constant effort to dismantle the higher education system," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)