Kolkata: The West Bengal assembly today passed a bill that makes the Chief Minister - and not the Governor - Chancellor of all state universities in Bengal. BJP legislators protested but just 40 votes were polled against the bill and 182 were in favour. 

State education minister Bratya Basu, after introducing The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the House, said there was "nothing wrong" with the chief minister taking over as the chancellor.

The development is likely to draw a fresh battleline between Ms Banerjee, who also heads the ruling Trinamool Congress, and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who the state's ruling party leaders have accused of working with the centre to harass the Mamata Banerjee government on key issues.

By law, the Governor is the Chancellor of 17 universities in the state, according to the Bengal Raj Bhavan's official website. Some of them are the University of Calcutta, Jadavpur University, University of Kalyani, Rabindra Bharati University, Vidyasagar University, the University of Burdwan and North Bengal University, among others.

For Visva-Bharati in Santiniketan, the Governor is the Pradhana, or Rector, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the Chancellor.

In January this year, Mr Dhankhar alleged that Vice Chancellors of 25 state universities in Bengal were appointed without his consent.