Shocked Didi Blames Shah for CV Ananda Bose's Exit
His resignation has drawn sharp criticism from Mamata Banerjee, who claims it undermines the principles of cooperative federalism.
Kolkata: In a dramatic development, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose resigned on Thursday ahead of the Assembly Election here, triggering a controversy that his early exit happened “under pressure.” The retired IAS officer submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the evening after flying to New Delhi in an unexpected visit. Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has replaced Mr Bose as the WB Governor.
Mr Bose was appointed as the Governor on November 17 in 2022 and had his term till 2027. He recently enrolled himself as a voter of the state from Kerala to exercise his right in the upcoming Assembly polls. Mr Bose was also scheduled to be present at the inauguration of Darjeeling Hill Festival, a first of its kind celebration of art, culture and heritage of the region, by Ms Murmu on Friday. WhatsApp Channel of Lok Bhavan, Kolkata posted a message about his itinerary at 1.44 pm on Thursday.
What unfolded later remains a secret. In the afternoon, he reached Kolkata Airport in his convoy from Lok Bhavan. At around 4.55 pm, Mr Bose took off for New Delhi. His premature step down has stunned chief minister Mamata Banerjee who is scheduled to sit on a Dharna at Metro Channel in Esplanade, which is not far from Lok Bhavan, from 2 pm on Friday over the large scale deletion of names from the voters' list by the Election Commission in the first two phases of the ongoing special intensive revision.
Alleging foul play by Amit Shah, the Trinamul Congress supremo wrote on X-handle, “I am shocked and deeply concerned by the sudden news of the resignation of Shri C. V. Ananda Bose, the Governor of West Bengal. The reasons behind his resignation are not known to me at this moment. 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.”
She claimed, “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. 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.”
Sources claimed that when Mr Shah had dialled Ms Banerjee, the CM missed it while chairing a meeting and got back to him immediately but arguments ruled their conversation. Rejecting Ms Banerjee's claims, state BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya called Mr Bose “highly educated” and said, “He glorified the post of Governor of West Bengal. Being the President's representative, he resigned due to health reasons. There is no controversy in it.”
