KOLKATA: Jadavpur University descended into chaos on Thursday after a section of students, belonging to some ultra-left unions, assaulted Union minister and BJP Asansol MP Babul Supriyo , who had gone to the campus to attend a programme organised by Bharatiya Janata Party student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.But the violent left-versus-right students’-union face-off on a varsity campus seemed headed for wider political ramifications after conversations between the state’s chief minister, its governor (also the university’s chancellor) and the university’s vice-chancellor indicated sharp differences on how to fight the latest crisis gripping one of Bengal’s premier educational institutions. Seniors in the Trinamool government called Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s decision — to drive down to JU hours after news of the violence broke — “a move without precedence in recent times”.Trinamool leaders present in Delhi along with CM Mamata Banerjee said she got a call from governor Dhankhar around 6.20pm, which she missed. But she then called back the governor and, after coming to know that he was headed for the JU campus, requested him not to go there because it was a students’ agitation to protest against a “Union minister attending an ABVP party function”.The Trinamool later issued a media statement, saying it was “most unfortunate and shocking” that the “hon’ble governor went there without taking the state government into confidence”. “He rang up the CM on his way. The CM requested him several times that the governor, being the constitutional head, did not need to go there at that moment. The CM requested him to give the state government some time to peacefully resolve the issue,” the statement said, adding: “But, instead of taking the government into confidence, the governor went there to help the BJP.”There was no response to the Trinamool statements from Raj Bhavan till late on Thursday night but a statement issued by the governor’s office earlier in the evening expressed concern at the “unlawful detention of a union minister” and termed the events on the JU campus “a very serious reflection on the law-and-order (situation) of the state and the conduct of law-enforcing agencies”.There were indications from the university that JU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das was “under pressure to resign” after the incident. “There were serious differences of opinion between the chancellor of the university (governor Dhankhar) and the V-C about calling in cops to tackle the situation and V-C Das, at one point of time, said he would rather resign than call in cops,” a senior state government minister told TOI. “But we have impressed on him that his first task is to restore normalcy to the campus,” the minister said, adding: “There is no need for the V-C to resign.”State education minister Partha Chatterjee, officials said, was in constant touch with Das, who was admitted to a hospital on Thursday evening with complaints of “headache, vertigo, palpitation and nausea”.Dhankhar was caught up in the protests at the university for nearly an hour, first because of the students’ agitation on the campus and then because of the violent protests by ABVP members outside. Police finally managed to escort the governor out around 8pm, after which the Rapid Action Force was deployed to control the situation. The governor later called Union home minister Amit Shah and briefed him on the situation.Thursday’s fiasco followed strident protests on the campus over the years, including display of black flags and “go-back” chants against former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and serving education minister Chatterjee. Bengal CM Banerjee, too, has been at the receiving end of ugly protests at Presidency University that forced authorities to hold the convocation elsewhere this January.The first sign of trouble on Thursday came around 2.30 p.m. when Babul stepped on the campus to attend a freshers’ welcome organised by the ABVP. The ultra-left Democratic Students’ Federation and the Forum for Arts Students waved black flags, screamed “go-back” slogans and blocked his path to the KP Basu Memorial Hall. Students’ Federation of India representatives said they backed the students’ demands but did not support the gherao.V-C Das offered to escort Babul to his office but the latter refused and insisted on attending the programme. The union minister suggested that the VC could have controlled the situation had he arrived earlier and called in the police, witnesses said, but Das told him he would rather resign than call cops on the campus. Once inside, Babul expressed apprehension over how he would return once the programme ended.His apprehensions proved true as students stepped up the agitation when he tried to leave around 5 p.m. They gharoed Babul and began jostling with him, causing him to fall on the ground. Some students pulled him by his hair and a security personnel’s magazine fell from the rifle in the melee.“The protesters were trying to disturb peace by instigating students and seminar organisers to create a stampede-like situation. I did not come here to do politics. But I am saddened by the behaviour of some of the university students and the way they have heckled me. They pulled my hair and pushed me. The VC was also manhandled by the students. The incident is absolutely deplorable,” Babul told mediapersons.