Former Intelligence Bureau (IB) top official and ex-Governor of Tamil Nadu, R.N. Ravi, took office as the new Governor of West Bengal in a ceremony held at Lok Bhavan (formerly Raj Bhavan) in Kolkata at 11.30 a.m. The oath was administered by Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Sujoy Paul in the presence of notable figures including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Assembly Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay, and Left Front Chairman Biman Bose.
Surprisingly, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, was absent from the event despite being invited. Notably, no representative from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in attendance. Ravi assumes the role following the sudden resignation of C.V. Ananda Bose on March 5, with Ravi’s appointment announced on the same day. Bose bid farewell to Kolkata and expressed his enduring emotional connection with the people of West Bengal.
Ravi’s appointment as West Bengal Governor marks the second time an IB top official has held this position in the last fifteen years. The timing of Ravi’s appointment, coinciding with the upcoming crucial Assembly elections in the state later this year, adds an interesting dimension to the situation. This parallels the appointment of former IB chief and National Security Adviser M.K Narayanan as West Bengal Governor before the significant 2011 Assembly elections that ended the Left Front’s long-standing rule.
