The Name's Ananda Bose But He's Not Bengali: Meet West Bengal's New Governor

Former IAS, brain behind PM Modi's affordable housing scheme, PhD - Ananda Bose has a long CV.

Meet West Bengal's New Governor-Designate - CV Ananda Bose

(Photo: The Quint)

While his surname might indicate that he is as Bengali as it gets, he is in fact a Keralite, born in Kottayam. But West Bengal’s new governor says that he shares an emotional connection with the state as he worked as a bank officer in Kolkata.  

Bose has an impressive CV - IAS officer, PhD in Philosophy from BITS Pilani, writer of 45 books and 350 publications, orator, housing expert, former university vice-chancellor, former chief secretary to the Chief Minister of Kerala, chairman of habitat alliance and much more.

But above all, Bose is said to be PM Narendra Modi’s ‘man of ideas’, the brain behind the government of India’s promise to provide affordable housing for all by 2022. Bose was part of the working group that prepared the development agenda for PM Modi, and his affordable housing concept was adopted by the Prime Minister.  

Why CV Ananda Bose?

Bose has never been a very politically inclined personality to begin with. His interest lay more in developmental and administrative matters. But he has always been one of the key persons that the BJP central leadership turns to for independent feedback.

He had formally joined the BJP in 2019. But he has worked with the state and central governments in different positions throughout his career.

According to sources, he was asked by the labour ministry to prepare an action plan for the welfare of migrant workers during the lockdown.

Sources have said that he has the ear of the central BJP leadership. So when he gives feedback about the state, the BJP high command is bound to take note.

Change of Guard 

The Bengal BJP would hope that CV Ananda Bose takes on CM Mamata Banerjee like his predecessor Jagdeep Dhankar, now India's Vice President. Dhankar’s tussles with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the West Bengal government were known to all, and till his last day at office, Dhankar had missed no turn to attack the government, especially on the issue of law and order.  

After Dhankar resigned and took up the post of vice-president, LA Ganesan was appointed as the interim governor of the state, and he was a complete change from the Dhankar approach – he seemingly enjoyed a good relationship with Banerjee, to the point where Didi visited him in Tamil Nadu.  

That didn’t sit well with the Bengal BJP who had reportedly complained against Ganesan on a few occasions, the latest of them being his silence over TMC Minister Akhil Giri’s comments against President Droupadi Murmu.  

With the panchayat elections approaching, Ganesan was quickly replaced with a permanent governor – Bose, one who is close to the BJP and is nothing short of PM Modi’s blue-eyed boy. The BJP’s Bengal unit would be watching keenly whether Bose is in the Dhankhar mould or more like Ganesan.