Kolkata, Mar 5 (PTI) In a dramatic development days before the schedule for the West Bengal assembly polls will be announced, Governor C V Ananda Bose resigned on Thursday evening, sending political ripples across the state, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressing shock and hinting at possible political pressure behind the move.
Soon after Bose resigned in New Delhi, Banerjee said she had been informed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah that Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi would take over as the new governor of the state.
In a late-evening development, President Droupadi Murmu appointed Ravi as the new governor of West Bengal. Ravi will succeed Bose, whose resignation has been accepted by the President, a communique issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
Confirming the development to PTI over the phone from Delhi, Bose said, “Yes, I have resigned. I have been the Governor of Bengal for three-and-a-half years; it’s enough for me.” He, however, declined to elaborate on the reasons behind the decision, fuelling speculation in political circles as his tenure was scheduled to run till November 2027.
The CM alleged that Bose might have been subjected to pressure from Shah to serve “certain political interests” ahead of the assembly elections, scheduled in April; remarks that immediately added a political edge to the unexpected exit.
“However, given the prevailing circumstances, I would not be surprised if the Governor has been subjected to some pressure from the Union Home Minister to serve certain political interests on the eve of the forthcoming state assembly elections,” Banerjee said in a post on X.
The sudden development has injected a fresh element of political intrigue into Bengal’s already charged pre-election atmosphere, with the ruling TMC and the opposition BJP preparing for what is expected to be one of the fiercest electoral contests in the state in recent years.
Bose, who took charge as the Governor of West Bengal on November 17, 2022, stepped down nearly 20 months before the completion of his tenure, becoming the second consecutive occupant of Lok Bhavan to demit office before completing the full term.
His exit comes at a politically sensitive moment as the state heads towards assembly elections, with the BJP challenging the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, which seeks a fourth consecutive term.
The TMC supremo also alleged that she was not consulted before the decision to replace the Governor was taken, following “the established convention in this regard”.
“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.
The chief minister’s sharp reaction carries an element of political irony as Bose’s tenure had been marked by frequent friction between Lok Bhavan and the state secretariat Nabanna, with the two sides often locking horns over administrative and political issues.
Though Bose initially appeared less confrontational than his predecessor Jagdeep Dhankhar, relations between the Governor’s office and the TMC government gradually deteriorated, with disagreements surfacing over governance issues, university appointments and political developments in the state.
Several of these confrontations spilt into the public domain, reinforcing the long-running institutional tension between the Lok Bhavan and the Mamata Banerjee government.
Bose had also attempted to cultivate a distinct public persona in Bengal, participating in cultural programmes and even undergoing “haatekhori”, the traditional Bengali initiation into learning the alphabet, while expressing his desire to become Bengal’s “adopted son”.
In a move that drew attention in political and administrative circles, he had also sought to shift his voting rights from Kerala to West Bengal. Despite these attempts at symbolic integration, his sudden resignation on Thursday evening caught both the state administration and political observers by surprise.
The development has also revived memories of the unusual trajectory of his predecessor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who left the Governor’s office before completing his term, after he fought the Vice Presidential election as the NDA candidate in 2022. Dhankar resigned as VP last year before completing his full term.
BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya dismissed the allegations of political pressure and attributed Bose’s resignation to health concerns.
“Governor C V Ananda Bose was suffering from ailments and nothing else should be read into it,” Bhattacharya said.
“The TMC is unnecessarily attributing a political motive to his resignation and bringing controversy into it. He is a learned man, and we wish his good health,” he added.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said that “there must be some reason behind it”.
Senior TMC minister Chandrima Bhattacharya raised questions about the timing of the development and wondered whether there could be “any other plan”, including the possibility of imposition of President’s rule in the state.
With Bose’s sudden exit on the eve of the polls, the fraught Lok Bhavan–Nabanna equation is set to once again cast a long political shadow over Bengal’s intensely polarised election season. PTI SCH PNT SMY SUS NN PNT NN MNB
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.