Jagdeep Dhankhar said the meeting was "extremely pleasant and cordial"

A senior West Bengal minister on Tuesday called on Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at Raj Bhavan, the first time since the war of words began between the TMC government and him over a host of issues.

State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee met the governor to discuss the cancellation of recent programmes in various state-run universities and protests in some of them.

The governor is the chancellor of the state-run universities.

The meeting lasted for over an hour following which the governor issued a statement describing it as "extremely pleasant and cordial".

Mr Dhankhar had on December 28 tweeted a letter sent to him by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in response to his offer for talks over matters related to state-aided varsities.

The chief minister's letter said, "The subject pertains to the Department of Education. I am forwarding the letter to the Minister-in-Charge Education Department, Partha Chatterjee to discuss all issues with you at a convenient time."

The governor's post had sparked off a Twitter war between him and Chatterjee, with the education minister providing the state government's perspective on the issue.

"The dates of formal programmes pertaining to universities are fixed and chalked out and cancelled depending upon the circumstances by the vice-chancellors.

"The universities are autonomous bodies and the state government hardly interferes in the discharge of their duties and responsibilities based on available rules 2019," Mr Chatterjee had tweeted.

The state government had recently trimmed the governor's power as the chancellor of universities, notifying a set of new rules governing his interaction with the vice-chancellors.

Under the new rules, the chancellor cannot intervene in the day-to-day affairs of the universities, nor can he advise varsity officials directly.

All communication between the chancellor and senior university officials will also have to be routed through the state's higher education department.

Mr Dhankhar's war of words with the government had begun after he rushed to Jadavpur University on September 19 to ''rescue'' union minister Babul Supriyo who had been gheraoed by a section of students.

Mr Dhankhar, who has supported the contentious amended Citizenship Act while the TMC is opposing it, had to return from the gates of the Jadavpur University on December 24 after the TMC-run employees' union prevented him from entering the varsity premises to attend its annual convocation.

The Arts Faculty Students' Union of the varsity sent a mail to the Raj Bhavan the same day saying, "Sir, you are not welcome in our campus".