Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 5: West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose stepped down from his post on Thursday submitting his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu in Delhi while the Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi was transferred to Kolkata to replace Mr Bose.
The sudden resignation of the Governor, comes ahead of the Assembly polls in the State. The Manipur governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, a retired bureaucrat, will be holding additional charge of Tamil Nadu, a central government communication said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is said to have called West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and informed her about the developments. Ms Banerjee said she was “shocked and deeply concerned by the sudden news of the resignation” from Mr Bose.
Observing that the reasons behind his resignation were not known to her at the moment, the CM said she “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.” Mr Bose was originally scheduled to preside over the “Darjeeling Hill Festival” to be inaugurated by Ms Murmu on Friday.
“Union Home Minister just informed me that Shri R.N. Ravi is being appointed as Governor of West Bengal. He never consulted with me as per the established convention in this regard,” Ms Banerjee said in a post on X. She added that 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 wrote. Mr Bose was appointed Governor about three years ago in November 2022 and his tenure was no stranger to controversies, including allegations of harassment levelled towards him by a woman employee of Raj Bhawan in May 2024. He had also raised questions on law and order situation in the State particularly in the wake of communal riots in Murshidabad in April 2025.
While the Chief Minister had promised never to visit Raj Bhawan after allegation of harassment against Mr Bose had come to the fore, of late the relations between the Governor and Chief Minister had improved. The Governor was also on the same page with the West Bengal Government on several issues including appointments of Vice Chancellors. Recently, the frequency of BJP leaders particularly Suvendu Adhikari visiting the Raj Bhawan had reduced.
The resignation comes as a sudden move as Mr Bose on February 27, 2026 had informed that he had become a voter of West Bengal. “HG expressed delight that his EPIC has been transferred to Part 38 under 162-Chowrangee Assembly Constituency. HG is keen to join his brothers and sisters across the State in exercising his right to Vote. HG urges everyone to cast their vote in elections and strengthen democracy,” the West Bengal Lok Bhawan’s social media cell had posted on February 27.
Earlier on Thursday, the State Lok Bhawan’s social media cell made a separate post on the launch of the Darjeeling Hill Festival by Mr Bose as the Governor. “Darjeeling Hill Festival, the first of its kind, will be launched by the Hon’ble President of Bharat, Shrimati Droupadi Murmu, on 6 March 2026, in the presence of Hon. Governor Dr C.V. Ananda Bose,” the post had read.
Me Bose will be succeeded by an equally controversial governor Ravi who had been always at loggerheads with the MK Stalin government so long he held the office in Tamil Nadu. His four-year term witnessed a tumultuous period and constant confrontation with the State government. Mr Ravi was appointed the governor of Tamil Nadu on September 18, 2021.
Sources said Bose’s resignation could be a part of rejig considering that Ladakh’s Lieutenant Governor Kavinder Gupta has also resigned. “Governors in several states may be replaced, and the list of new Governors and Lieutenant Governors will be released by the Rashtrapati Bhavan soon,” a source said.
“Last year, Mr Jagdeep Dhankhar, who was earlier the governor of West Bengal, had suddenly resigned from the post of the Vice President. CV Ananda Bose suddenly resigned from the post of Governor. What happened? Because they disobeyed the Union Home Ministry? Bengal wants to know what the reason is,” Trinamool Congress MP and party spokesperson Shashi Panja asked.
Much like his predecessor Jagdeep Dhankhar, the former Vice President, Bose had regularly made headlines with his frequent run-ins with the state government on the issues of political violence, law and order and elections. He had made strong statements about the government and visited victims of violence and riot-hit areas– once even against the advice of the state government.
As for the Chief Minister, he said while he shares a good rapport with her, the “politician Mamata Banerjee is not my cup of tea”. On one occasion, he even called her “Lady Macbeth” and said he would socially boycott her. “Socially means I will never share any stage with the Chief Minister. I will not attend any meeting where the Chief Minister is present,” he had said in a video message released by his office. “I will take proactive steps against her for violating Constitutional provisions. My role as the Governor will be confined to the Constitutional obligations,” Mr Bose had said in the video message.
The relations between the Raj Bhavan and the State government went downhill since the controversy of a contractual woman employee levelling allegations of sexual harassment against the Governor in May last year. Bose had even gone to court, filing a defamation suit against her. The court said a legal tussle between the Governor and the Chief Minister of any state is not desirable and in an interim order, restrained Banerjee from making any defamatory statements against Governor.
