In the Republic of India, a lieutenant governor is the constitutional head of five of the eight union territories. The lieutenant governor is appointed by the President of India for a term of five years, and holds office at the President's pleasure. Since the union territories of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry have a measure of self-government with an elected legislature and council of ministers, the role of the lieutenant governor there is mostly a ceremonial one, akin to that of a state's governor. In Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Ladakh however, the lieutenant governor holds more power, being both the head of state and head of government.
The other three union territories—Chandigarh; Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu; and Lakshadweep—are governed by an administrator. Unlike the lieutenant governors of other territories, they are usually drawn from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) or Indian Police Service (IPS). Since 1985 the Governor of Punjab has also been the ex-officio Administrator of Chandigarh.
Chandrawati was the first woman to become the lieutenant governor of an Indian union territory, Kiran Bedi is the longest-serving female lieutenant governor with almost 5 years tenure. Tamilisai Soundararajan is the only woman to serve both as a lieutenant governor and governor.
As of 29 June 2024, no woman has served as the administrator of the three union territories. Till date all of the female lieutenant governors have been appointed only to Puducherry.
* Incumbent lieutenant governor
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Home state | Term of office | Union territory | Appointed by | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
1 | Chandrawati (1928–2020) | Haryana | 19 February 1990 | 18 December 1990 | 302 days | Puducherry | R. Venkataraman | ||
2 | Rajendra Kumari Bajpai (1925–1999) | Bihar | 2 May 1995 | 22 April 1998 | 2 years, 355 days | Shanker Dayal Sharma | |||
3 | Rajani Rai (1931–2013) | Maharashtra | 23 April 1998 | 29 July 2002 | 4 years, 97 days | K. R. Narayanan | |||
4 | Kiran Bedi (1949–) | Punjab | 29 May 2016 | 16 February 2021 | 4 years, 263 days | Pranab Mukherjee | [1] | ||
5 | Tamilisai Soundararajan (additional charge) (1961–) | Tamil Nadu | 16 February 2021 | 18 March 2024 | 3 years, 31 days | Ram Nath Kovind | [2] |
An administrator in the constitutional practice of some countries in the Commonwealth is a person who fulfils a role similar to that of a governor or a governor-general.
Kiran Bedi is a former tennis player who became the first woman in India to join the officer ranks of the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972 and was the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from 28 May 2016 to 16 February 2021. She remained in service for 35 years before taking voluntary retirement in 2007 as Director General, Bureau of Police Research and Development.
In India, a governor is the constitutional head of a state of India that has similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at the central level. Governors exist in the states, while lieutenant governors and administrators exist in union territories of Delhi and Puducherry and other union territories. A governor acts as the constitutional head and takes all their decisions based on the advice of chief minister and their council of ministers.
The Puducherry Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian union territory (UT) of Puducherry, which comprises four districts: Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahé and Yanam. Out of eight union territories of India, only three have legislatures and they are Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. After delimitation shortly after its formation, the Puducherry legislative assembly has 33 seats, of which 5 are reserved for candidates from scheduled castes and 3 members are nominated by the Government of India. 30 out of 33 Members are elected directly by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise and the remaining three are nominated by the central government. These nominated members enjoy same powers as elected members of the assembly.
A union territory is a type of administrative division in the Republic of India. Unlike the states of India, which have their own governments, union territories are federal territories governed, in part or in whole, by the Union Government of India. There are currently eight union territories in India: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Delhi (NCT), Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.
The Government of Jammu and Kashmir is the governing authority of the Jammu and Kashmir and its two divisions and 20 districts.
The Government of Telangana also known as TelanganaGovernment, is the governing authority of the state of Telangana in India. It consists of an executive, a judiciary and a legislative.
Tamilisai Soundararajan is an Indian politician belongs to Bharatiya Janata Party. She served as the second Governor of Telangana, and also served as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from 18 February 2021 to 18 March 2024. She was the National Secretary and Tamil Nadu State Unit President of the BJP prior to this appointment.
Government of Puducherry is the union territorial government for the union territory of Puducherry, India. It is headed by the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. Its capital is located at Pondicherry.
The Chief Secretary is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the state government. The Chief Secretary is the ex-officio head of the state Civil Services Board, the State Secretariat, the state cadre Indian Administrative Service and all civil services under the rules of business of the state government. The Chief Secretary acts as the principal advisor to the chief minister on all matters of state administration.
Anil Baijal is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and served as the 21st Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. He took over office on 31 December 2016 after the sudden resignation of Najeeb Jung. He resigned from the post of Lieutenant Governor and sent his resignation letter to President of India on 18 May 2022 as his term was over.
Elections in the Indian union territory of Puducherry are conducted every five years to elect members to the Puducherry Legislative Assembly and members of parliament to the Lok Sabha. There are 30 assembly constituencies and 1 Lok Sabha constituency. The union territory has conducted 14 assembly elections and 15 Lok Sabha elections since independence.