Pictures by Bibhash Lodh/BS News Agency.
Sanchita Chatterjee, BS News Agency, Kolkata: Shri R.N. Ravi was sworn in today (Thursday, March 12, 2026) as the Governor of West Bengal. At a ceremony held at the Lok Bhawan in Kolkata, the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, Justice Shri Sujoy Pal, administered the oath of office to him.
In a message addressed to the people of West Bengal, Governor Shri Ravi stated, “I consider myself extremely fortunate and deeply grateful to have received the opportunity to serve the people of West Bengal. For millennia, this great land has been recognized as the spiritual, intellectual, and cultural hub of India. It was on this very soil, thousands of years ago, that the eternal wisdom of the Vedas flourished. It was here that the teachings of Gautama Buddha took on a new form. It was here that the great stream of the Bhakti Movement evolved, and from here emerged the powerful leadership of the national freedom struggle.
The Governor further added:
“During a critical era of foreign invasion and rule—when attempts were being made to obliterate our culture and identity—this land gave birth to countless great personalities and spiritual luminaries. Among them are Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu; Bhagwan Ramakrishna Paramahamsa; Swami Vivekananda; Babu Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay—whose ‘Vande Mataram’ became the battle cry of our freedom movement; the Poet Laureate and Sage Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore; the revolutionary spiritual leader Shri Aurobindo; and the great revolutionary freedom fighters Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee. I pray to Goddess Durga to bestow upon me the wisdom and strength to dedicate myself with the utmost devotion to the service of the people of this state.”