Bose quits as Bengal Governor ahead of polls

Kolkata: In a sudden development that caught the state government by surprise just days before the announcement of the West Bengal Assembly elections, Governor C.V. Ananda Bose resigned from office on Thursday, prompting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to say she was “shocked” by the move.

The President of India has accepted the resignation of C.V. Ananda Bose as Governor of West Bengal, according to a press statement issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB). The Centre simultaneously announced a series of gubernatorial changes across several states and Union Territories. R.N. Ravi, Governor of Tamil Nadu, has been appointed as the Governor of West Bengal, while Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Governor of Kerala, will discharge the functions of Governor of Tamil Nadu.

Among other changes, Shiv Pratap Shukla, Governor of Himachal Pradesh, has been appointed Governor of Telangana, while Jishnu Dev Varma, Governor of Telangana, will take charge as Governor of Maharashtra. Nand Kishore Yadav has been appointed Governor of Nagaland and Lt. General (Retired) Syed Ata Hasnain has been appointed Governor of Bihar. Kavinder Gupta, Lt. Governor of Ladakh, has been appointed Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Vinai Kumar Saxena, Lt. Governor of Delhi, has been appointed Lt. Governor of Ladakh, and Taranjit Singh Sandhu has been appointed Lt. Governor of Delhi. The appointments will take effect from the dates the incumbents assume charge of their respective offices.

Bose, a retired 1977-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, stepped down nearly 20 months before the end of his tenure, which was scheduled to run till November 2027. He had assumed office as Governor of West Bengal in November 2022, replacing La Ganesan.

Sources said Bose, who is currently in New Delhi, submitted his resignation to the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday evening. He has not yet made any public statement explaining his decision, triggering speculation in political circles.

According to sources, R.N. Ravi, who is expected to take interim charge of West Bengal in addition to his present responsibilities, has been serving as the 15th Governor of Tamil Nadu since 2021. His tenure there has also seen frequent disagreements with the DMK government over language policy and constitutional matters.

Bose’s tenure as Governor, however, was marked by frequent friction with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government. A former Chief Secretary of Kerala, he often found himself at odds with the state administration over issues ranging from his visits to districts and meetings with officials to his remarks on law and order in the state.

Meanwhile, the timing of the resignation has also raised questions over protocol arrangements for the upcoming visit of President Droupadi Murmu to West Bengal on March 6 and 7, during which she is scheduled to attend several programmes and stay at Lok Bhavan in Darjeeling on March 6.

With the Governor’s post now falling vacant, a question that immediately surfaced was who would formally receive the President on her arrival in the state. Sources said that in the absence of a Governor, the Chief Justice of the High Court usually performs the ceremonial duty of welcoming the President.

Reacting to the development, Mamata Banerjee said the sudden resignation had come as a shock. In a post on her X handle, she wrote: “I am shocked and deeply concerned by the sudden news of the resignation of Shri C. V. Ananda Bose, the Governor of West Bengal. The reasons behind his resignation are not known to me at this moment.”

Banerjee also alleged that the Governor might have been subjected to pressure from the Union government ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

She further claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed her that R.N. Ravi would be appointed as the new Governor of West Bengal and criticised the Centre for not consulting her on the appointment.

“He never consulted with me as per the established convention in this regard. Such actions undermine the spirit of the Constitution of India and strike at the very foundation of our federal structure. The Centre must respect the principles of cooperative federalism and refrain from taking unilateral decisions that erode democratic conventions and the dignity of States,” she said.

Senior Trinamool Congress leader Chandrima Bhattacharya also questioned the timing of the resignation. “Has he been pressurised by the BJP at the Centre to resign? This is a crucial time as elections are going to be announced soon. What prompted him to take such a step?” she asked.

Another senior TMC leader, Shashi Panja, said the development raised serious questions. “Elections in Bengal should be completed by April. At this time the Governor has resigned. We want to question the Union Home Minister whether he wants elections to be held in Bengal. Does he want democracy to be established?” Panja said.