West Bengal Governor Ananda Bose deploys CRPF, sniffer dogs to scan Raj Bhavan after MP Kalyan Banerjee's claims

A day after West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose opened the gates of Raj Bhavan to verify whether there were any arms and ammunition stacked up, Bose went a step ahead on Monday and initiated a thorough search by Central Para Military Forces (CRPF), sniffer dogs and bomb disposal squad to scan the premises. 

The decision to open the gates to Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee, media and civil society to visit the premises was made after Banerjee’s comments on Saturday, stating that the West Bengal governor was shielding criminals and providing them with arms and bombs to attack TMC workers. 

“Because allegations were raised by the honourable member of Parliament, I respect honourable members. When he makes such a serious allegation, it is up to me as governor to establish the truth in front of the public," said Governor Ananda Bose, who also said that he received no apology so far from the Trinamool Congress MP.

Meanwhile, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee reacted to Bose’s move confidently by saying, “He is a stooge of the BJP. Didn’t he speak to the American president? Let him get the FBI. He doesn’t have any knowledge of the working of the Parliament," said Kalyan Banerjee. 

“Let him write whatever he wants. We will expose him. What will he do? Will he put us in jail?” Banerjee further questioned Bose’s move, even as the governor is mulling writing to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to look into the matter, as grave allegations were made by the TMC MP. 

“All strong and legal steps will be taken to contain this wrong trend in politics of drawing in the Raj Bhavan and the governor into political discussions," added the governor, who reiterated that if nothing is found in the premises, legal steps will be taken against the MP. 

The entire controversy erupted on Saturday, after Banerjee responded to Bose’s statement on Special Intensive Revision (SIR), after the Bharatiya Janata Party and National Democratic Alliance swept the Bihar elections. Bose had said that SIR was helpful. “If people are confused, then we should convince them that the SIR is a process that is required to clean up the election process and ensure that free and fair elections take place. Bihar has proved it, and I am sure people of Bengal will accept it," Bose had said on Saturday. 

To this, the TMC MP responded saying, “First, tell the governor not to shelter BJP-backed criminals inside Raj Bhavan. He is sheltering those criminals and providing them guns and bombs with instructions to go and kill those belonging to TMC.” 

The association between the state government and the Bengal governor has been rocky in the past. However, the relationship improved in December 2024, when Bose visited the West Bengal Assembly to administer oath to six MLAs of TMC elected during the bypolls. Following this, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also visited Raj Bhavan and met the governor. 

However, the association between the two parties took a hit in April 2025, when Bose went ahead and visited victims in riot-hit Murshidabad district, despite Mamata requesting the governor to skip his visit to the sensitive area. In October, Bose gave the West Bengal chief minister 24 hours to take action against perpetrators of the attack on BJP MP Khagen Murmu and MLA Shankar Ghosh during their visit to meet victims of the North Bengal flood.

Following recent comments by the TMC MP, who indicated being ready to take the battle to the courtroom, relations between the state government and the governor are likely to take another nose dive.