Ramesh Bais (born 2 August 1947) is an Indian politician and is the 23rd governor of Maharashtra since 2023. He also served as the governor of Jharkhand from 2021 to 2023 and the governor of Tripura from 2019 to 2021.[1] He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and has served as union minister of state (Independent Charge) for environment and forests in the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Bais has been elected seven times to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, representing the Raipur constituency, including serving as a member of the 9th Lok Sabha (1989) and 11th to 16th Lok Sabha (1996–2019).
As the 10th Governor of Jharkhand, Bais had several noticeable tensions with the state government led by Hemant Soren during his tenure.[7] One of the most prominent issues was his failure to disclose the Election Commission's recommendation on Soren's continuation as MLA over a mining case.[8] Bais also criticised the work culture in Jharkhand and flagged law and order as a significant problem. He returned several bills to the state government citing various loopholes, including bills passed by the government under the leadership of Hemant Soren, and the formation of the Tribal Advisory Council. Bais claimed he works according to the Constitution for the betterment of the state and stated that his successor would decide the fate of pending Bills and unfinished issues.[9][10]