KOLKATA: West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose on Wednesday launched an ‘anti-corruption cell’ at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata, saying it was an effort to give voice to the voiceless in Bengal, a move that provoked chief minister Mamata Banerjee to allege that Bose was wearing a mask and was doing the bidding of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Centre.

As he announced his new initiative, Bose recalled that Raj Bhavan had started a ‘Peace Room’ to receive complaints about the law and order situation back in June when violence was reported from different parts of the state after the panchayat polls were announced.

“Here (at the anti-corruption room) we are trying to give voice to the voiceless. In the days of violence, Raj Bhavan decided to stay awake at night so that poor people can sleep in peace,” the Bengal governor told reporters on Wednesday.

“We will not try to infringe on the turf of others. There is something called ‘Lakshman Rekha’. We will certainly try to confine ourselves within the Lakshman Rekha,” Bose said.

The BJP welcomed Raj Bhavan’s initiative. “When the state government is not playing its role and the chief minister is just giving speeches against corruption, the governor who is the custodian of the Constitution is fulfilling his responsibilities with his powers,” said BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.

Mamata Banerjee and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) insisted that the new cell was an attempt to interfere.

“This is not Raj Bhavan’s job,” said Banerjee on the anti-corruption cell.

“We respect the governor. He has set up some cells. He is unnecessarily interfering in the jurisdiction of the state government. Behind the mask, he is doing whatever the BJP is saying. He is bringing in experts from outside the state and appointing vice-chancellors of state-run universities from outside West Bengal. I don’t blame the governor. This is being done on the directions of the Centre,

Trinamool MP Santanu Sen said the governor was a constitutional head but was behaving like an administrative head. “He is trying to run a parallel administration to harass the Mamata Banerjee administration to appease the BJP,” he said.

The Raj Bhavan also runs a programme, Aamne Saamne, in which Bose interacts with students.

But it is the other initiative, Peace Room, that had irked the Trinamool Congress.

“The Peace Room had to be opened because miscreants have opened war rooms. Once peace is established and people are convinced that there is no need for the Peace Room,” Bose said on June 17 when the initiative was announced.

The peace room continues to function.

“Raj Bhavan received more than 7,000 calls in the peace room. If one considers the complaints lodged on emails too, the number would cross 10,000,” said an official. He did not, however, elaborate on the effectiveness of the initiative.