Kolkata, Mar 12 (UNI): Ravindra Narayan Ravi was sworn in as the newly appointed Governor of West Bengal at Lok Bhavan (formerly Raj Bhavan) in Kolkata on Thursday morning.
The oath of office was administered by Sujay Paul, Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, at a ceremony that began at the scheduled time of 11:30 am.
Several prominent leaders and officials were present at the event, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty, Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee and Biman Bose, chairman of the Left Front.
Before and after the oath-taking ceremony, the national song Vande Mataram and the national anthem Jana Gana Mana were played.
After taking the oath, the new Governor exchanged greetings and interacted with the Chief Minister and other guests present at the ceremony.
Ravi has been appointed the permanent Governor of West Bengal following the sudden resignation of C. V. Ananda Bose from the post.
Until recently, Ravi had been serving as the Governor of Tamil Nadu and arrived in Kolkata on Wednesday to assume his new responsibilities.
During his tenure in Tamil Nadu, Ravi was frequently involved in confrontations with the state’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government led by Chief Minister M. K. Stalin.
Over the past few years, disagreements between the Governor and the state government had surfaced repeatedly, particularly over the approval of various bills passed by the Assembly.
At one point, the DMK government had even approached President Droupadi Murmu seeking his removal from the gubernatorial post.
With Bose stepping down unexpectedly, Ravi has now taken charge as the constitutional head of West Bengal.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier raised questions over Bose’s sudden resignation.
Soon after Ravi’s name was announced as the next Governor, Banerjee wrote on social media that she was “shocked and deeply concerned” by Bose’s abrupt resignation.
She added that she was not aware of the reasons behind his decision but said that given the current political situation and the approaching assembly elections in the state, she would not be surprised if the Governor had come under pressure from the union Home Ministry for political considerations.
UNI SAG AKU