Ahead of Assembly Polls, President Appoints 9 New Governors - Insight Into Appointment of Governors

Udaipur, Mar 07, 2026: The appointment of nine new Governors by the President of India was announced vide a Press Communique on March 5, 2026. This signalled a flavour of political 'arbritage'. Of the nine new Governors, one new Governor has been appointed for West Bengal, while the Governor of Kerala will also discharge the functions of Governor of Tamil Nadu.

Interestingly both West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are going to assembly polls. West Bengal will have assembly polls in April - May 2026 while Tamil Nadu is expected to complete elections before May 10, 2026.

The incumbent Governor of West Bengal, CV Ananda Bose and Ladakh Lieutenant - Governor Kavinder Gupta resigned on March 5, the same day new Governors were appointed.

List of Governor Appointments on March 5

• Shiv Pratap Shukla, Governor of Himachal Pradesh appointed as Governor of Telangana.
• Jishnu Dev Varma, Governor of Telangana appointed as Governor of Maharashtra.
• Nand Kishore Yadav appointed as Governor of Nagaland.
• Lt. General (Retired) Syed Ata Hasnain appointed as Governor of Bihar.
• R.N. Ravi, Governor of Tamil Nadu appointed as Governor of West Bengal.
• Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Governor of Kerala to discharge the functions of Governor of Tamil Nadu.
• Kavinder Gupta, Lt. Governor of Ladakh appointed as Governor of Himachal Pradesh.
• Vinai Kumar Saxena, Lt. Governor of Delhi appointed as Lt. Governor of Ladakh.
• Taranjit Singh Sandhu appointed as Lt. Governor of Delhi.

Ladakh Developments Past Year

After the appointment of Kavinder Gupta as Lt-Governor in July 2025, the Himalayan state witnessed violence, to a level which was never seen before. In the violence, which took place in September 2025 in Leh, four people were killed, of which one was a Kargil war veteran. This was the period when famed activist Sonam Wangchuk was also imprisoned. The killings happened when forces opened fire on protestors demanding constitutional safegourds for Ladakh.

Tamil Nadu Political Context

RN Ravi, an IPS who worked with the Intelligence Bureau, was also the interlocutor for the Naga peace talks between 2014-2021. His relationship with the state political leadership had turned sour. The Chif Minister MK Stalin accused Ravi of being a political rival to the state government. The Supreme Court had also invoked its powers to declar 10 Bills as "effectively approved" after Ravi had withheld his assent.

West Bengal Reaction

The resignation of Ananda Bose from the chair of Governor and the appointment of RN Ravi (erstwhile Governor of Tamil Nadu) happened simultaneously and CM of West Bengal Mamta Bannerjee stated that she was "shoked and deeply concerned by the resignation" of Bose, who was Governor of the State for more than 3 years.

HOW DOES THE APPOINTMENT OF GOVERNOR WORK

The discussions on the appointment of Governor began with Article 131 of the Draft Constitution of India 1948. The article gave two options - one that the Governor be 'elected' through a direct vote or all persons who vote at a general election for the Legislative Assembly of the state or ALTERNATIVELY, let the President of Indian 'appoint' the Governor by warrant under his hand and seal from a pane of four candidates elected by members of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council through secret ballot.

Finally, after much deliberation and discussions, Article 155 of the Consitution of India 1950 was adopted, which said that the Governor of a State shall be appointed by the President of India by warrant under his hand and seal.

Governor is a titular head or constitutional head and at the same time, he is the agent of the centre as the union government nominates Governor in each state.