List of governors of West Bengal

Template:More citations needed

Template:Infobox official post The governor of West Bengal is the nominal head of the Indian state of West Bengal. The governor is appointed by the President of India. R. N. Ravi is the incumbent governor since 12 March 2026.^[1]

Powers and functions

Template:See also The governor enjoys many different types of powers:

Executive powers related to administration, appointments and removals,
Legislative powers related to lawmaking and the state legislature, that is Vidhan Sabha or Vidhan Parishad, and
Discretionary powers to be carried out according to the discretion of the governor.

Ex officio role of governor

In his ex officio capacity, the governor of West Bengal is Chancellor of the universities of West Bengal (at presentTemplate:Clarify timeframe 16) as per the Acts of the Universities. The Universities are:

For Visva Bharati, the governor is the Pradhana (Rector).

The governor is also the chairman or president of some organisations, such as Victoria Memorial Hall, Indian Museum, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS), Calcutta Cultural Centre (Kolkata Kala Kendra), Special Fund for R&R of Ex-servicemen, West Bengal Rajya Sainik Board, Sri Aurobindo Samiti, Indian Red Cross Society - West Bengal State Branch, St. John Ambulance Brigade No. II (West Bengal) District, Bharat Scouts and Guides, and the Bengal Tuberculosis Association.

The governor of West Bengal’s Welfare Fund has the governor as its chairman. Contributions from this fund are given to the needy people for meeting, to some extent, the cost of their treatment. Besides the above, at his discretion, the governor accepts the position of Chief Patron/Patron or other posts in the honorary capacity, in various organisations that are rendering yeoman service to society in different fields.

List

Legend

Template:Note label Died in office
Template:Note label Transferred
Template:Note label Resigned/removed

Color key

Template:Legend2 indicates acting/additional charge

Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name (bornTemplate:Spaced ndashdied)	Home state	Tenure in office			Appointer (President)
Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name (bornTemplate:Spaced ndashdied)	Home state	From	To	Time in office	Appointer (President)
1	File:Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari.jpg	Chakravarti Rajagopalachari Template:Small	Madras Presidency	Template:Small 1947	Template:Small 1948Template:Ref label Template:Efn-lg	Template:Ayd	Lord Mountbatten Template:Small
2	File:Kailash Nath Katju.jpg	Kailash Nath Katju Template:Small	Central Provinces and Berar	Template:Small 1948	Template:Small 1951	Template:Ayd	Lord Mountbatten Template:Small
3	File:Harendra Coomar Mookerjee.jpg	Harendra Coomar Mookerjee Template:Small	West Bengal	Template:Small 1951	Template:Small 1956Template:Ref label	Template:Ayd	Rajendra Prasad
4	File:Phani Bhusan Chakravartti.jpg	Template:Small Phani Bhusan Chakravartti Template:Small (Acting)	West Bengal	Template:Small 1956	Template:Small 1956	Template:Ayd
5	File:Padmaja Naidu.jpg	Padmaja Naidu Template:Small	Andhra Pradesh	Template:Small 1956	Template:Small 1967	Template:Ayd
6	File:Dharma Vir, ICS.jpg	Dharma Vira Template:Small	Uttar Pradesh	Template:Small 1967	Template:Small 1969	Template:Ayd	Zakir Husain
7	File:Blank.svg	Template:Small Deep Narayan Sinha (Acting)	West Bengal	Template:Small 1969	Template:Small 1969	Template:Ayd	Zakir Husain
8	File:Blank.svg	Shanti Swaroop Dhavan Template:Small	Uttar Pradesh	Template:Small 1969	Template:Small 1971	Template:Ayd	V. V. Giri
9	File:Blank.svg	Anthony Lancelot Dias Template:Small	Maharashtra	Template:Small 1971	Template:Small 1979	Template:Ayd	V. V. Giri
10	File:Tribhuvan Narayan Singh Lok Sabha photo.jpg	Tribhuvan Narain Singh Template:Small	Uttar Pradesh	Template:Small 1979	Template:Small 1981	Template:Ayd	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
11	File:Blank.svg	Bhairab Dutt Pande Template:Small	Uttar Pradesh	Template:Small 1981	Template:Small 1983Template:Ref label Template:Efn-lg	Template:Ayd	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
12	File:Anant Sharma Lok Sabha photo.jpg	Anant Prasad Sharma Template:Small	Bihar	Template:Small 1983	Template:Small 1984	Template:Ayd	Zail Singh
13	File:Blank.svg	Template:Small Satish Chandra (Acting)	Uttar Pradesh	Template:Small 1984	Template:Small 1984	Template:Ayd
14	File:Uma Shankar Dikshit Rajya Sabha photo.jpg	Uma Shankar Dikshit Template:Small	Uttar Pradesh	Template:Small 1984	Template:Small 1986Template:Ref label	Template:Ayd
15	File:Saiyid Nurul Hasan 30.jpg	Saiyid Nurul Hasan Template:Small	Uttar Pradesh	Template:Small 1986	Template:Small 1989Template:Ref label Template:Efn-lg	Template:Ayd
16	File:T. V. Rajeswar (cropped).jpg	T. V. Rajeswar Template:Small	Tamil Nadu	Template:Small 1989	Template:Small 1990Template:Ref label	Template:Ayd	Ramaswamy Venkataraman
17	File:Saiyid Nurul Hasan 30.jpg	Saiyid Nurul Hasan Template:Small	Uttar Pradesh	Template:Small 1990	Template:Small 1991	Template:Ayd
18	File:K. V. Raghunatha Reddy (cropped).jpg	K. V. Raghunatha Reddy Template:Small (Acting)	Andhra Pradesh	Template:Small 1991	Template:Small 1991	Template:Ayd
19	File:Saiyid Nurul Hasan 30.jpg	Saiyid Nurul Hasan Template:Small	Uttar Pradesh	Template:Small 1991	Template:Small 1992	Template:Ayd
20	File:Mohammad Shafi Qureshi, Governor of Madhya Pradesh (cropped).jpg	Mohammad Shafi Qureshi Template:Small (Acting)	Jammu and Kashmir	Template:Small 1992	Template:Small 1992	Template:Ayd
21	File:Saiyid Nurul Hasan 30.jpg	Saiyid Nurul Hasan Template:Small	Uttar Pradesh	Template:Small 1992	Template:Small 1993Template:Ref label	Template:Ayd
22	File:B. Satya Narayan Reddy portrait.jpg	B. Satya Narayan Reddy Template:Small (Additional Charge)	Andhra Pradesh	Template:Small 1993	Template:Small 1993	Template:Ayd	Shankar Dayal Sharma
23	File:K. V. Raghunatha Reddy (cropped).jpg	K. V. Raghunatha Reddy Template:Small	Andhra Pradesh	Template:Small 1993	Template:Small 1998	Template:Ayd	Shankar Dayal Sharma
24	File:A. R. Kidwai in 2009 (cropped).jpg	Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai Template:Small	National Capital Territory of Delhi	Template:Small 1998	Template:Small 1999Template:Ref label	Template:Ayd	K. R. Narayanan
25	File:Shyamal Kumar Sen - Kolkata 2012-10-03 0512.JPG	Template:Small Shyamal Kumar Sen Template:Small	West Bengal	Template:Small 1999	Template:Small 1999	Template:Ayd
26	File:Viren J Shah - Kolkata 2004-05-02 1366.jpg	Viren J. Shah Template:Small	Gujarat	Template:Small 1999	Template:Small 2004	Template:Ayd
27		Gopalkrishna Gandhi Template:Small	National Capital Territory of Delhi	Template:Small 2004	Template:Small 2009	Template:Ayd	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
28		Devanand Konwar Template:Small (Additional Charge)	Assam	Template:Small 2009	Template:Small 2010	Template:Ayd	Pratibha Patil
29	File:Mayankote Kelath Narayanan - Kolkata 2014-02-04 8384.JPG	M. K. Narayanan Template:Small	Tamil Nadu	Template:Small 2010	Template:Small 2014Template:Ref label	Template:Ayd	Pratibha Patil
30	File:Shri D.Y. Patil (cropped, 3x4).jpg	D. Y. Patil Template:Small (Additional Charge)	Maharashtra	Template:Small 2014	Template:Small 2014	Template:Ayd	Pranab Mukherjee
31	File:Keshari Nath Tripathi - Kolkata 2016-07-01 5591.JPG	Keshari Nath Tripathi Template:Small	Uttar Pradesh	Template:Small 2014	Template:Small 2019	Template:Ayd	Pranab Mukherjee
32	File:Shri JDhankhar.png	Jagdeep Dhankhar Template:Small	Rajasthan	Template:Small 2019	Template:Small 2022Template:Ref label Template:Efn-lg	Template:Ayd	Ram Nath Kovind
33	File:La Ganesan Ji (cropped).jpg	La. Ganesan Template:Small (Additional Charge)	Tamil Nadu	Template:Small 2022	Template:Small 2022	Template:Ayd	Ram Nath Kovind
34	File:Governor C. V. Ananda Bose at PMO.jpg	C. V. Ananda Bose Template:Small	Keralam	Template:Small 2022	11 March 2026Template:Ref label	Template:Ayd	Droupadi Murmu
35	File:R.N. Ravi.jpg	R. N. Ravi Template:Small	Bihar	12 March 2026	Incumbent	Template:Ayd	Droupadi Murmu

↑ New Governors in states, UT: TN’s Ravi replaces Bose in Bengal ahead of polls, Hasnain for Bihar, Sandhu gets Delhi. The Indian Express(6 March 2026). Retrieved 6 March 2026.

References

External links

Raj Bhavan's (Governor's residence) official website

Template:Governors and Lt Governors of Indian States Template:Governors of West Bengal Template:West Bengal

[1] New Governors in states, UT: TN’s Ravi replaces Bose in Bengal ahead of polls, Hasnain for Bihar, Sandhu gets Delhi. The Indian Express(6 March 2026). Retrieved 6 March 2026.

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