List of governors of Kerala

Last updated

Governor of Kerala
Government of Kerala Logo.svg
Rajendra Arlekar.jpg
since 2 January 2025 (2025-01-02)
Style The Honourable, His Excellency
Residence Raj Bhavan, Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram
Appointer President of India
Term length At the pleasure of the president
Formation1 November 1956;68 years ago (1956-11-01)
Website www.rajbhavan.kerala.gov.in

The governor of Kerala is the constitutional head of state of the southern Indian state of Kerala. The governor is appointed by the president of India, and holds office at the president's pleasure. The governor is de jure head of the government of Kerala; all its executive actions are taken in the governor's name. The elected council of ministers is headed by the chief minister of Kerala, who thus holds de facto executive authority in the state. 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. [1]

Contents

Since 2 January 2025, Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, is the 23th governor of Kerala.

List


Legend
Color key
#PortraitName
(born died)
Home stateTenure in officeAppointer
(President)
FromToTime in office
P. S. Rao (cropped).jpg P. S. Rao
(Acting)
Andhra Pradesh 1 November
1956
21 November
1956
20 days Rajendra Prasad
1 Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, 1952 (cropped).jpg Burgula Ramakrishna Rao
(1899–1967)
Andhra Pradesh 22 November
1956
1 July
1960 [§] [α]
3 years, 222 days
2 President V. V. Giri.jpg V. V. Giri
(1894–1980)
Madras Presidency 1 July
1960
2 April
1965 [§] [β]
4 years, 275 days
3 Ajit Prasad Jain Lok Sabha portrait.gif Ajit Prasad Jain
(1902–1977)
Uttar Pradesh 2 April
1965
6 February
1966 [‡]
310 days Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
4 Bhagwan Sahay.jpg Bhagwan Sahay
ICS (Retd)
(1905–1986)
Uttar Pradesh 6 February
1966
15 May
1967 [§] [γ]
1 year, 98 days
5 V. Viswanathan.jpg V. Viswanathan
ICS (Retd)
(1909–1987)
Kerala 15 May
1967
1 April
1973
5 years, 321 days Zakir Husain
6 N. N. Wanchoo.jpg N. N. Wanchoo
ICS (Retd)
(1910–1982)
Madhya Pradesh 1 April
1973
10 October
1977 [§] [δ]
4 years, 192 days V. V. Giri
7 Jothi Venkatachalam.jpg Jothi Venkatachalam
(1917–?)
Tamil Nadu 14 October
1977
27 October
1982
5 years, 13 days Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
8 P. Ramachandran.jpg P. Ramachandran
(1921–2001)
Tamil Nadu 27 October
1982
23 February
1988
5 years, 119 days Zail Singh
9 Ram Dulari Sinha official portrait.gif Ram Dulari Sinha
(1922–1994)
Bihar 23 February
1988
12 February
1990 [‡]
1 year, 354 days Ramaswamy Venkataraman
10 Sarup Singh Rajya Sabha photo.jpg Sarup Singh
(1917–2003)
Haryana 12 February
1990
20 December
1990 [§] [ε]
311 days
11 B. Rachaiah Lok Sabha photo.jpg B. Rachaiah
(1922–2000)
Karnataka 20 December
1990
15 April
1995
4 years, 116 days
Gopala Ramanujam.jpg Gopala Ramanujam
(1915–2001)
Governor of Orissa

(Acting)
Tamil Nadu 15 April
1995
30 April
1995
15 days Shankar Dayal Sharma
(11) B. Rachaiah Lok Sabha photo.jpg B. Rachaiah
(1922–2000)
Karnataka 1 May
1995
11 November
1995
194 days
12 P. Shiv Shankar (cropped).jpg P. Shiv Shankar
(1929–2017)
Andhra Pradesh 12 November
1995
4 May
1996 [‡]
171 days
Khurshed Alam Khan (cropped).jpg Khurshed Alam Khan
(1919–2013)
Governor of Karnataka

(Additional Charge)
Uttar Pradesh 5 May
1996
25 January
1997
265 days
13 Justice Sukhdev Singh Kang.jpg Justice (Retd)
Sukhdev Singh Kang
(1931–2012)
Punjab 25 January
1997
29 February
2000
3 years, 35 days
The Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Dr. C. Rangarajan addressing a press conference on 'Economic Review 2012-13', in New Delhi on April 23, 2013 (cropped).jpg C. Rangarajan
(born 1932)
Governor of Andhra Pradesh

(Acting)
Tamil Nadu 29 February
2000
23 April
2000
54 days K. R. Narayanan
(13) Justice Sukhdev Singh Kang.jpg Justice (Retd)
Sukhdev Singh Kang
(1931–2012)
Punjab 23 April
2000
19 October
2000
179 days
The Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Dr. C. Rangarajan addressing a press conference on 'Economic Review 2012-13', in New Delhi on April 23, 2013 (cropped).jpg C. Rangarajan
(born 1932)
Governor of Andhra Pradesh

(Acting)
Tamil Nadu 19 October
2000
7 November
2000
19 days
(13) Justice Sukhdev Singh Kang.jpg Justice (Retd)
Sukhdev Singh Kang
(1931–2012)
Punjab 7 November
2000
14 September
2001
311 days
Mohammad Fazal (cropped).jpg Mohammed Fazal
(1922–2014)
Governor of Goa

(Acting)
Uttar Pradesh 14 September
2001
28 September
2001
14 days
(13) Justice Sukhdev Singh Kang.jpg Justice (Retd)
Sukhdev Singh Kang
(1931–2012)
Punjab 28 September
2001
16 February
2002
141 days
The Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Dr. C. Rangarajan addressing a press conference on 'Economic Review 2012-13', in New Delhi on April 23, 2013 (cropped).jpg C. Rangarajan
(born 1932)
Governor of Andhra Pradesh

(Acting)
Tamil Nadu 16 February
2002
28 February
2002
12 days
(13) Justice Sukhdev Singh Kang.jpg Justice (Retd)
Sukhdev Singh Kang
(1931–2012)
Punjab 28 February
2002
18 April
2002
49 days
14 Sikander Bakht Lok Sabha photo.jpg Sikander Bakht
(1918–2004)
National Capital Territory of Delhi 18 April
2002
23 February
2004 [†]
1 year, 311 days
T. N. Chaturvedi.jpg T. N. Chaturvedi
IAS (Retd)
(1928–2020)
Governor of Karnataka

(Additional Charge)
Uttar Pradesh 25 February
2004
23 June
2004
119 days A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
15 R. L. Bhatia.jpg R. L. Bhatia
(1920–2021)
Punjab 23 June
2004
10 July
2008 [§] [ζ]
4 years, 17 days
16 R. S. Gavai.jpg R. S. Gavai
(1929–2015)
Maharashtra 11 July
2008
7 September
2011
3 years, 58 days Pratibha Patil
17 M. O. H. Farook.jpg M. O. H. Farook
(1937–2012)
Puducherry 8 September
2011
26 January
2012 [†]
140 days
Hans Raj Bhardwaj.png H. R. Bhardwaj
(1939–2020)
Governor of Karnataka

(Additional Charge)
Punjab 26 January
2012
22 March
2013
1 year, 55 days
18 Nikhil Kumar Nagaland Governor (cropped).jpg Nikhil Kumar
IPS (Retd)
(born 1941)
Bihar 23 March
2013
5 March
2014 [‡] [η]
347 days Pranab Mukherjee
19 Sheila Dikshit Ji.jpg Sheila Dikshit
(1938–2019)
National Capital Territory of Delhi 5 March
2014
5 September
2014 [‡]
184 days
20 Justice P. Sathasivam.jpg Justice (Retd)
P. Sathasivam
(born 1949)
Tamil Nadu 5 September
2014
5 September
2019
5 years, 0 days
21 Arif Mohammad Khan (cropped).jpg Arif Mohammad Khan
(born 1951)
Uttar Pradesh 6 September
2019
1 January
2025 [§] [ζ]
5 years, 117 days Ram Nath Kovind
22 Rajendra Arlekar, Governor of Kerala.jpg Rajendra Arlekar
(born 1954)
Goa 2 January
2025
Incumbent223 days Droupadi Murmu
  1. Transferred as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh
  2. Transferred as the Governor of Mysore State
  3. Transferred as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir
  4. Transferred as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh
  5. Transferred as the Governor of Gujarat
  6. 1 2 Transferred as the Governor of Bihar
  7. Resigned to contest in the 2014 general election

See also

Notes

    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. Note: although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Kerala as well.