Commenting on the episode, an angry Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, told reporters at Dum Dum airport on the eve of his departure for London on Tuesday evening, that the barbaric Government of the BJP at the Centre was flouting the Constitution and canons of law.

Earlier, in the afternoon Basu said in a statement that the BJP Government in Delhi without making any consultation with the State's Left Front Government issued the directive asking the West Bengal Governor, Mr. A.R. Kidwai to put in his papers. The Centre's step was indecent and bereft of all democratic norms, Basu said. He said the present government at the Centre was a caretaker one with a life till the election. The way the BJP Government removed a Governor of a State without consulting the concerned State foreboded dangers in the coming years to the functioning of democracy in the country. Basu was confident that people having faith in democracy would not support such acts of the Centre. According to Basu, Governor Mr Kidwai had played a commendable role during his short stay in West Bengal Basu congratulated Mr Kidwai on behalf of the people of West Bengal . He, however, felt sorry that Mr Kidwai was leaving the State in bitterness.

The acting Chief Minister, and the Home (police)Minister, Buddhadev Bhattacharya was also unhappy about the whole episode. It was most unfortunate that instead of a Central Minister, a bureaucrat communicated to the Governor the BJP Government's directive. The Secretary of the west Bengal State Committee of the CPI(M), Anil Biswas has condemned the way the Centre has removed Governor A.R.Kidwai from West Bengal bothering least about the democratic principles. Biswas called upon people, employees, left Front supporters to condemn the action of the BJP Government in undemocratically removing Mr. Kidwai from the State.

The Left Front Chairman, Sailen Dasgupta commenting on the removal of the Governor said that the BJP's caretaker government at the Centre was flouting democratic norms one after another, the latest being one related to the removal of the State's Governor Mr A.R. Kidwai. It was dangerous that the directive was issued without even prior consolation with the State's Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, a democratic requirement. This was one more example of misgovernance of the BJP Government at the Centre, Dasgupta said.

Governor A.R.Kidwai has a chequered career spanning around four decades. He was Governor of Bihar in the first instance from 1979 to 1985. Again he was appointed Governor of Bihar in 1993 and continued in the same post till Aprill 27 Thereafter he joined as Governor of West Bengal on April 27 last year. His tenure ended on August 27. Before his gubernatorial assignments or in between, he was a member and later Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission, and Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University. He was also the Chairman of the University Grants Commission. A highly qualified student of Chemistry, Mr.Kidwai has to his credit several research papers. He has been associated with numerous educational institutions till now. The whole state of West Bengal recorded its protest on 12May against the BJP Government at the Centre taking recourse to undemocratic means for removal of the the State's Governor, Mr A.R.Kidwai From Darjeeling in the north to Sagar island in the south, people of all walks of life participated in protest demonstrations and meetings to highlight the point that the BJP's style of governance forebodes dangers to the integrity of the country in future. Be it in Siliguri, or in Assansol or Coochbehar or in Calcutta, everywhere people condemned the BJP Government's action alleging that the BJP leaders removed Mr Kidwai intending to gain minor political mileage in the forthcoming Lok Sabha election.

In Calcutta, the Calcutta district Left Front committee took out a precession from the Subodh Mullick square which ended after a meeting on Rani Rashmani Road.

Addressing the meeting Anil Biswas, Secretary of the West Bengal State Committee of the CPI(M) said that the people of West Bengal would not tolerate the modus operandi the BJP government at the Centre has adopted to destroy democracy in the country. They removed Mr Kidwai, the Governor, adopting the most undemocratic way. This smacked of indecency too. Acting in an autocratic manner the Central Government was planning to remove six more governors too. The care-taker government's autocratic moves would have to be foiled through agitation, Biswas added.

Biswas wondered why the BJP's Union Home Minister, Mr L.K.Advani, was making so much hurry about removing the present Governor of West Bengal. Mr Advani's argument that Mr Kidwai had been withdrawn from West Bengal as his tenure expired did not stand the test of reason . Biswas said the tenure of Mr kidwai had expired three and a half months ago. At that time Mr Advani recommended one name to Jyoti Basu who knew that the concerned person was a Vice-President of the BJP. But Basu agreed to take as the State's new Governor. Why was Mr Advani not referring to the episode dating back to three and a half months, Biswas asked.