In a major development, R N Ravi has been appointed as the new Governor of West Bengal after C V Ananda Bose resigned from the post earlier in the day. The appointment was announced by President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday night as part of a major reshuffle of governors and lieutenant governors in several states and Union Territories.

Bose’s sudden resignation created political discussion, especially because it happened just weeks before the Assembly elections in West Bengal. Following his resignation, Ravi, who was serving as the Governor of Tamil Nadu, was appointed to take charge in the state.

According to a communique from Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Murmu accepted Bose’s resignation. The announcement confirmed the change in the Raj Bhavan leadership as part of the broader reshuffle carried out by the President.

Speaking to PTI over the phone from Delhi, Bose confirmed his resignation and said, “Yes, I have resigned. I have been the Governor of Bengal for three-and-a-half years; it's enough for me.”

The development quickly triggered political reactions in the state. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that Bose might have been pressured by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to step down. She claimed that the resignation could have been linked to political interests ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

Banerjee alleged that Bose may have been pressured to “serve certain political interests” ahead of the polls. The remark added a political dimension to the sudden change in the governor’s office in the poll-bound state.

The appointment of Ravi is part of a wider reshuffle of gubernatorial posts carried out across several states and Union Territories. As part of these changes, Kavinder Gupta, the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, has been appointed as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh.

At the same time, retired Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain has been named the new Governor of Bihar. He replaces Arif Mohammed Khan, who had taken oath as the Governor of Bihar on January 2 last year.

Another important appointment announced during the reshuffle was that of Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the former Indian ambassador to the United States. He has been appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, replacing Vinai Kumar Saxena.

Following these changes, Saxena has been appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, replacing Kavinder Gupta, who has been moved to Himachal Pradesh.

Further appointments were also announced as part of the reshuffle. Shiv Pratap Shukla, who had been serving as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, has been appointed as the Governor of Telangana.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Telangana, Jishnu Dev Varma, has been appointed as the Governor of Maharashtra. After C P Radhakrishnan resigned after being elected as the country’s Vice President in September last year, Acharya Devvrat, the Governor of Gujarat, was given the additional responsibility of Maharashtra.

Another appointment announced during the reshuffle was that of senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav, who has been named the Governor of Nagaland. Previously, the Governor of Manipur, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, had also been serving as the Governor of Nagaland.

In another arrangement mentioned in the statement, Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, the Governor of Kerala, will take over the responsibilities of the Governor of Tamil Nadu after Ravi moves to West Bengal.

Ravi had been serving as the Governor of Tamil Nadu and had earlier worked as a former deputy national security adviser. During his tenure in the southern state, he was often involved in public disagreements with the state government led by Chief Minister M K Stalin on several issues.

The political debate around the appointment also continued after the announcement. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh criticised Ravi’s appointment and wrote on X that Ravi was “very much part of the Modi ecosystem.”

He further added, “He moved to Tamil Nadu, where he has been a perfect disgrace. Now he is shifted to West Bengal, where he is guaranteed to make a nuisance of himself!”

The Rashtrapati Bhavan statement also mentioned that all these appointments will come into effect from the dates on which the newly appointed governors and lieutenant governors assume charge of their respective offices.