List of female governors and lieutenant governors in India

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In India, a governor is the constitutional head of each of the twenty-eight states. The governor is appointed by the President of India for a term of five years, and holds office at the President's pleasure. The governor is de jure head of the state government; all its executive actions are taken in the governor's name. However, the governor must act on the advice of the popularly elected council of ministers, headed by the chief minister, who thus hold de facto executive authority at the state-level. The Constitution of India also empowers the governor to act upon their own discretion, such as the ability to appoint or dismiss a ministry, recommend President's rule, or reserve bills for the President's assent. Over the years, the exercise of these discretionary powers have given rise to conflict between the elected chief minister and the union government–appointed governor. [1] The union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Puducherry are headed by lieutenant governors.As of 7April2024, Any woman not served as the administrator of any three union territories and Delhi does not have any woman lieutenant governor.

Contents

Sarojini Naidu was the first woman to become the governor of an Indian state. [2] She governed Uttar Pradesh from 15 August 1947 to 2 March 1949. Her daughter, Padmaja Naidu, is the longest-serving female governor with almost 11 years tenure in West Bengal. [3] Tamilisai Soundararajan is the recentmost appointment as the first female governor of Telangana. [4]

Governors

Key

*  Incumbent governor

S. No.NameImageFromToTerm lengthStateRef.
1 Sarojini Naidu Bundesarchiv Bild 102-12899, Sarojini Naidu (cropped).jpg 15 August 19472 March 19491 year, 199 days United Provinces [5]
2 Padmaja Naidu 3 November 195631 May 196710 years, 209 days West Bengal [6]
3 Vijayalakshmi Pandit Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.jpg 28 November 196218 October 19641 year, 325 days Maharashtra [7]
4 Sharda Mukherjee Sharda Mukherjee official portrait.gif 5 May 197714 August 19781 year, 101 days Andhra Pradesh [8]
14 August 19785 August 19834 years, 356 days Gujarat [9]
5 Jothi Venkatachalam 14 October 197727 October 19825 years, 13 days Kerala [10]
6 Kumudben Joshi Kumudben Joshi.jpg 26 November 19852 February 19904 years, 68 days Andhra Pradesh [11]
7 Ram Dulari Sinha Ram Dulari Sinha official portrait.gif 23 February 198812 February 19901 year, 354 days Kerala [10]
8 Sarla Grewal 31 March 19895 February 1990311 days Madhya Pradesh [12]
9 Sheila Kaul Sheila Kaul Lok Sabha photo.jpg 17 November 199523 April 1996158 days Himachal Pradesh [13]
10 Fathima Beevi Justice Fathima Beevi.JPG 25 January 19971 July 20014 years, 157 days Tamil Nadu [14]
11 V. S. Ramadevi VS RamaDevi.jpg 26 July 19971 December 19992 years, 128 days Himachal Pradesh [13]
2 December 199920 August 20022 years, 261 days Karnataka [15]
12 Pratibha Devisingh Patil The President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil.jpg 8 November 200423 June 20072 years, 227 days Rajasthan [16]
13 Prabha Rau Prabha Rau.jpg 19 July 200824 January 20101 year, 189 days Himachal Pradesh [13]
25 January 201026 April 201091 days Rajasthan [17]
14 Margaret Alva The Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Shri Somnath Chatterjee addressing at the inauguration of the Orientation Programme for the media persons accredited to the press gallery of Lok Sabha, in New Delhi on July 28, 2006 (cropped).jpg 6 August 200914 May 20122 years, 262 days Uttarakhand [18]
12 May 20127 August 20142 years, 87 days Rajasthan [19]
15 Kamla Beniwal Kamla Beniwal.jpg 27 November 20096 July 20144 years, 221 days Gujarat [20]
6 July 20146 August 201431 days Mizoram [21]
16 Urmila Singh Urmila Singh in 2010.jpg 25 January 201027 January 20155 years, 2 days Himachal Pradesh [22]
17 Sheila Dikshit Sheila Dikshit Ji.jpg 11 March 201425 August 2014167 days Kerala [23]
18 Mridula Sinha Governor Mridula Sinha.jpg 31 August 20142 November 20195 years, 63 days Goa [24]
19 Droupadi Murmu President Droupadi Murmu official portrait higher version.jpg 18 May 201513 July 20216 years, 56 days Jharkhand [25]
20 Najma Heptulla Najma A. Heptulla presenting the Badalte Qadam Award to the Cinematographer, Doordarshan, Ms. Jayshree Puri, at the Best Achievers Award Ceremony, organised by the Child Care & Welfare Foundation, in New Delhi (cropped).jpg 21 August 201610 August 20214 years, 354 days Manipur [26]
21 Anandiben Patel* Anandiben Patel Ji.jpg 23 January 201828 July 20191 year, 186 days Madhya Pradesh [27]
15 August 201828 July 2019347 days Chhattisgarh [28]
29 July 2019Incumbent4 years, 253 days Uttar Pradesh [29]
22 Baby Rani Maurya The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi at the 1st Uttarakhand Investors Summit, at Dehradun, Uttarakhand (cropped).JPG 26 August 201815 September 20213 years, 20 days Uttarakhand [30]
23 Anusuiya Uikey* The Governor of Chhattisgarh, Ms. Anusuiya Uikey.jpg 29 July 201922 February 20233 years, 208 days Chhattisgarh [31]
23 February 2023Incumbent1 year, 44 days Manipur
24 Tamilisai Soundararajan Tamilisai Soundararajan with her book "Suvai Migu Theneer Thuligal".jpg 8 September 201918 March 20244 years, 192 days Telangana [32]

Chronological list of lieutenant governors

Key

*  Incumbent lieutenant governor

No.PortraitName

(Birth–Death)

Home stateTerm of officeUnion territoryAppointed by
Assumed officeLeft officeTime in office
1 No image available.svg Chandravathi
(1928–2020)		 Haryana 19 February 199018 December 1990302 days Puducherry R. Venkataraman
2 Rajendra Kumari Bajpai Lok Sabha photo.jpg Rajendra Kumari Bajpai
(1925–1999)		 Bihar 2 May 199522 April 19982 years, 355 days Shanker Dayal Sharma
3 No image available.svg Rajani Rai
(1931–2013)		 Maharashtra 23 April 199829 July 20024 years, 97 days K. R. Narayanan
4 Dr. Kiran Bedi in 2017 (cropped).jpg Kiran Bedi
(1949–)		 Punjab 29 May 201616 February 20214 years, 263 days Pranab Mukherjee
5 Tamilisai Soundararajan with her book "Suvai Migu Theneer Thuligal".jpg Tamilisai Soundararajan
(1961–)		 Tamil Nadu 16 February 202118 March 20243 years, 31 days Ram Nath Kovind

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th edition, 2011 reprint. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. ISBN   978-81-8038-559-9. p. 237, 241–44.
  2. ↑ "Sarojini Naidu: The first woman to become the governor of an Indian state". CNN-IBN. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Shubhojit (10 July 2014). "Women Governors in India". Elections.in. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "President appoints five new governors including Tamilisai Soundararajan in Telangana". The Hindu. September 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "Shrimati Sarojini Naidu, Governor of UP". National Informatics Centre, UP State Union. Archived from the original on 21 January 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  6. ↑ "Former Governors of West Bengal". West Bengal Government. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  7. ↑ "Previous Governors List of Maharashtra". Maharashtra Government. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  8. ↑ "Former Governors of Andhra Pradesh". Andhra Pradesh Government. Archived from the original on 5 April 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  9. ↑ "Sharda Mukherjee, Former Governor of Gujarat". Gujarat Government. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  10. 1 2 "Kerala Legislature - Governors". Kerala Government. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  11. ↑ "Former Governors of AP". National Informatics Centre, AP State Union. Archived from the original on 5 April 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  12. ↑ "Sarla Grewal, Governor of Madhya Pradesh". NIC. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  13. 1 2 3 "Former Governors of Himachal Pradesh". Himachal Pradesh Government. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  14. ↑ "Former Governors of Tamilnadu". Tamil Nadu Government. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  15. ↑ "Ramadevi, Governor of Karnataka". Karnataka Government. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  16. ↑ "Ex Governor of Rajasthan". Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Secretariat. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  17. ↑ "President appoints Governors". Press Information Bureau, New Delhi Press release dated 16 January 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  18. ↑ "Margaret Alva, Governor of Uttarakhand". Uttarakhand Government. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  19. ↑ "Margaret Alva, Governor of Rajasthan". Rajasthan Government. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  20. ↑ "Kamla Beniwal, Governor of Gujarat". Gujarat Government. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  21. ↑ "The story behind Kamla Beniwal's dismissal". The Hindu. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  22. ↑ "Urmila Singh, Governor of Himachal Pradesh". Himachal Pradesh Government. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  23. ↑ Jain, Bharti (4 March 2014). "Sheila Dikshit, Governor of Kerala". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  24. ↑ Kamat, Prakash (31 August 2014). "Mridula Sinha sworn-in as Goa Governor". The Hindu.
  25. ↑ "Draupadi Murmu Sworn In as First Woman Governor of Jharkhand". NDTV. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  26. ↑ "Manipur: Najma Heptulla to be sworn-in as Governor on Sunday". Indian Express. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  27. ↑ "Anandiben Patel sworn in as Madhya Pradesh Governor". The Hindu. 23 January 2018.
  28. ↑ "Anandiben Patel, Governor of Chhattisgarh". Chhattisgarh Government. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  29. ↑ "Anandiben Patel Takes Oath As Uttar Pradesh Governor". NDTV. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  30. ↑ " Baby Rani Maurya sworn in as new Uttarakhand governor". The Economic Times. 26 August 2018.
  31. ↑ "Anusuiya Uikey takes oath as governor of Chhattisgarh". India Today. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  32. ↑ "Tamil Nadu BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan sworn in as second Telangana Governor". Hindustan Times. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
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