La. Ganesan takes oath as West Bengal governor

Mr. La Ganesan was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Prakash Shrivastava in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

NDA vice presidential candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar with La. Ganesan during a lunch hosted by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, in New Delhi, on July 17. | Photo Credit: PT

Manipur Governor La. Ganesan on Monday took charge as Governor of West Bengal. Mr. Ganeshan arrived in West Bengal on Monday and was administered oath by Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, Prakash Srivastava, at Raj Bhawan in Kolkata. 

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Speaker of State Assembly Biman Banerjee and Trinamool Congress leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Banerjee were present at the swearing in.

Mr. Ganesan had assumed additional responsibility of State’s Governor after the resignation of former West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Mr. Dhankhar, who has been made the Vice President nominee by National Democratic Alliance resigned from the post of West Bengal Governor on Sunday. His resignation was accepted by President Ram Nath Kovind, who gave charge to Mr. Ganesan. On Monday, Mr. Dhankhar filed his nomination papers for elections to the post of Vice President.

The Trinamool Congress government has had strained relations with Mr. Dhankhar ever since he assumed office in July 2019. There were speculations in the political circles as to who will be appointed as the Governor of the State.

A tweet by BJP MP Hans Raj Hans, congratulating former Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi for being appointed Governor of West Bengal, triggered more speculation on the issue. The BJP MP, however, later deleted the tweet.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress leadership has not made its stand clear on the vice-presidential polls. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has maintained silence on the issue so far. The party is likely to take a call on the issue on July 21.