Will act as bridge, conduit of cooperation: New West Bengal Governor Ananda Bose

Speaking to The Indian Express, Bose, appointed as Governor Thursday evening, said: “I do expect cordial relations with the elected government. The Governor’s role is as the head of the state. I would like to extend all co-operation to function within the parameters of the Constitution.”

Bose’s appointment will take effect on the date he assumes charge of his office, Press Secretary to President Draupadi Murmu, Ajay Kumar Singh, said in a communique.

“West Bengal is a great state with culture and heritage unparalleled and the people in the state are good at heart and peace-loving,” Bose said. “Kolkata is a city with a soul. I consider the Governor’s office not as a high office but as an opportunity to be at the service of the people. I will be a Governor with access to people. I will try my best to be of help in the development and growth of the state.”

Asked about the face-off between Dhankar and the Chief Minister, Bose said: “I would like to build a rainbow bridge with the Centre…By sorting out issues between the two, by being a conduit for mutual relationship, cooperation and interaction between the Centre and the state which will ultimately lead to the growth and development of the state.”

Bose’s appointment comes amid tension between the Raj Bhavans and non-BJP state governments, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Asked about this, Bose said: “All differences of opinion need not be seen as controversies. Protests and divided opinion need to be seen not as weakness but as (the) strength of democracy.”

Bose, 71, is a 1977 batch (retired) IAS officer of Kerala cadre, who has served in various roles in Kerala and the Centre in the departments of Education, Forest and Environment and Labour. He has been Principal Secretary to the late Congress veteran K Karunakaran during his term as Kerala Chief Minister. He was District Collector of Quilon district (now Kollam).

Bose joined the BJP before the 2019 general elections. During the Covid pandemic, Bose was asked by the Union Labour Ministry to prepare an action plan for the welfare of migrant workers.

In 2021, after the BJP’s defeat in the state elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked Bose and two other former bureaucrats, Jacob Thomas and E Sreedharan, to submit a report after talking to various leaders and candidates on funds sent from the central BJP to the state unit ahead of the elections. Bose had submitted the report to the Prime Minister after the state police launched a probe against state BJP leaders in connection with a highway robbery of Rs 3.5 crore that was suspected to be “unaccounted election funds.”

A PhD from BITS, Pilani, Bose was a fellow of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. As Director General of National Museum, he had headed the Supreme Court-appointed committee asked to conduct an inventory of the treasures of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram.

Bose was named after freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose by his father Vasudevan Nair who fought alongside Netaji.