CV Ananda Bose a retired IAS officer has been appointed as the new governor of west Bengal by the president of India, replacing the interim governor La Ganesan. It is informed that his appointment will be effective from the day he assumes office.
La Ganesan had been holding the office since July after the former Governor Jagdeep Dhankar was fielded by BJP to contest for the post of vice president of India.
Given the past relationship between the state govt. and Raj Bhavan, both TMC and BJP are looking forward to seeing whether the new appointment will bring about a change.
Since his appointment to Raj Bhavan in 2019 The Former Governor and the current Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankar had been at the tail of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government. Dhankar even became infamous for using his Twitter account to criticize and confront TMC’s administration, every now and then. It became so serious that Mamata Banerjee blocked him on Twitter.
Dhankar’s relationship with the assembly speaker was also much the same when the speaker complained about his interference in the state govt. matters to the president. He was on one occasion denied entry by shutting down the gates of the assembly.
TMC often accused Dhankar of not clearing the bills waiting for his approval intentionally, and that he was acting as the BJP’s agent.
The state government decided to pass two bills, The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and The West Bengal Private University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which would replace the governor and appoint the state education minister as the visitor of private universities and the chief minister as the chancellor of the state universities. The bills have not been approved by the governor yet.
Dhankar quit his post after BJP wanted him to contest in the polls for the post of vice president of India.
In July Manipur Governor La Ganesan was given the additional charge as the interim governor and things changed. Ganesan’s relation with the TMC seemed much friendlier, as Ganesan had reportedly attended the kali puja at cm Mamata Banerjee’s residence and
on another occasion, the TMC supremo visited Chennai to attend a family function of Ganesan.
The state BJP even expressed its unhappiness at the centre seeking the replacement of Ganesan.
While the TMC hopes the cordial relationship with Raj Bhavan after the departure of Dhankar to continue, the BJP is keen to see what the new appointment brings to the table.
A TMC MP said that the state government was not involved with the selection process, countering which BJP national vice president said not all appointments are made with consultations from others.
However, the Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari has welcomed the new governor to the state in a tweet mentioning praises for his past contributions.
“I heartily welcome the appointment of Dr C V Ananda Bose IAS (retd.) as the Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal. An eminent civil servant, he accomplished great feats in his career. Before retirement, he served as the Chief Secretary and Secretary to the Government of India,” Adhikari tweeted.
Ananda Bose (71) is a 1977 batch (retired) IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, who has served in various roles at both the state and the Centre, in the departments of Education, Forest and Environment, and Labour. He was the collector of Quilon district (now Kollam), and later Principal Secretary to the late Congress veteran K. Karunakaran during his term as Kerala CM. As Director General of National Museums, he had headed the Supreme Court-appointed committee asked to conduct an inventory of the treasures of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram. (The Indian Express reported)
