IN WEST BENGAL, the tussle between Governor C.V. Ananda Bose and the ruling Trinamool Congress recently intensified after TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee accused Bose of sheltering “BJP-backed criminals” inside Raj Bhavan and arming them “with guns and bombs” to target party workers. Bose soon took the unprecedented step of ordering an extraordinary search of the Raj Bhavan campus—by state police, Central forces, dog squads and bomb squads.
“Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion; that applies to the governor as well,” Bose, who has been in office since November 2022, told THE WEEK. “When the wild allegation was made, I decided that the best thing to do was to show the truth as it is. They detected nothing. This was to uphold the credibility and dignity of the governor’s office.”
Banerjee, who has represented the state government at the Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court, has vowed to take the matter to court. Bose, unfazed, said he had already filed a police complaint against Banerjee for derogatory statements, which has resulted in Banerjee being booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). Banerjee has filed a counter-complaint at the same Hare Street police station, including charges of criminal conspiracy and acts endangering India’s sovereignty. “They decided to go to court; I am also going to court. So we are on the same page,” Bose said.
The governor said he wanted to distinguish the attacks on him as an individual from the attacks on the constitutional office he occupies. “When they attack me as an individual, I do not mind…. As an institution, it is my duty to uphold the Constitution and be with the people,” Bose said.
Banerjee’s comments came after Bose’s public remarks on the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and his assertion that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance swept Bihar because people accepted the SIR process. With the month-long SIR now underway across 12 states and Union territories—including poll-bound West Bengal and Tamil Nadu—the TMC has opposed the exercise. “SIR is a means to ensure free and fair polls,” said Bose. “I am very optimistic that, in Bengal, it will go very impartially.”
With the 2026 assembly polls drawing near, the BJP and Trinamool are locked in a bitter contest. The BJP, despite its confidence ahead of the 2021 election, found the task of capturing West Bengal near impossible: the party won 77 seats, while the Trinamool retained power with 215.
From Bose’s perspective, the times are getting tougher for the Trinamool government. “Corruption is there in various ways—education, police, political circles. In the last three years, I sanctioned prosecution against three ministers. Two are in jail; one is going to be in jail. This is not a happy situation for me. Corruption must be rooted out. There should be zero tolerance.”
Bose said he did not want to name the ministers. “The three ministers have been charged by the ED or the CBI,” he said. “Legally they have to ask the governor permission; I have given them the permission in all three cases.”
Bose said he arrived in Bengal with apprehensions, shaped by warnings from leaders in Delhi. “Most of the apprehensions were based on the way politics is run here. I was told this is a state with a lot of corruption and violence. So it was difficult to handle,” he said.
What is reprehensible, he added, is the politics of violence in the state. “Similarly, corruption is not only tolerated, it is sometimes respected in political circles. These two cancerous growths on the body politic of Bengal—violence and corruption—must be fought. I do not attribute them to any one party.”
Despite the turbulent relationship between the state government and Raj Bhavan, Bose is measured in his assessment of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. “It is a meandering journey with mazy motion. There are some ups and downs. But I have maintained a very cordial, mutually respectful relationship with the chief minister. In personal matters, I am very happy we are able to maintain that bonhomie,” Bose said.
He insists on maintaining an institutional boundary. “I object to whatever is not within the Constitution or the law. Politics is not my cup of tea. Political rhetoric is different; administrative reality is different.”
Bose believes that maintaining an on-ground connect with the people is essential for carrying out his constitutional duty. “The oath taken by the governor has two parts: uphold the Constitution and work for the welfare of the people,” he said. “I am with the people. You have to go to the people to understand their feelings, perceptions and apprehensions.”
A native of Kerala, Bose says his attachment to Bengal runs deeper than his three years in office. “Bengal is my second home. Right from childhood, I have been reading Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. My father was a freedom fighter, and he used to tell us stories about Netaji Bose.” His father’s admiration for Subhas Chandra Bose is also the reason behind his surname: “He was a votary of Netaji. That is why I am named Bose. All my siblings are, too,” he said.
What comes next for him and Bengal? Bose turned to T.S. Eliot for an enigmatic answer, quoting the line that ends The Waste Land: “Om shanti, shanti, shanti.” Is that a message of hope for the violence-stricken land he calls his second home? “Yes,” he said. “Shanti in every respect.”