List of governors of Kerala
List of Kerala governors
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
AppointerPresident of India
| Governor of Kerala | |
|---|---|
| |
| Style | The Honourable, His Excellency |
| Residence | Lok Bhavan, Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram |
| Appointer | President of India |
| Term length | At the pleasure of the president |
| Formation | 1 November 1956 |
| Website | lokbhavan |
Since 2 January 2025, Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, is the 36th governor of Kerala.
List
- Legend
- Color key
- indicates acting/additional charge
| # | Portrait | Name (born – died) |
Home state | Tenure in office | Appointer (President) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Time in office | |||||
| 1 | .jpg) |
P. S. Rao (Acting) |
Andhra Pradesh | 1 November 1956 |
21 November 1956 |
20 days | Rajendra Prasad |
| 2 | .jpg) |
Burgula Ramakrishna Rao (1899–1967) |
Andhra Pradesh | 22 November 1956 |
1 July 1960[§][α] |
3 years, 222 days | |
| 3 |  |
V. V. Giri (1894–1980) |
Madras Presidency | 1 July 1960 |
2 April 1965[§][β] |
4 years, 275 days | |
| 4 |  |
Ajit Prasad Jain (1902–1977) |
Uttar Pradesh | 2 April 1965 |
6 February 1966[‡] |
310 days | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| 5 |  |
Bhagwan Sahay ICS (Retd) (1905–1986) |
Uttar Pradesh | 6 February 1966 |
15 May 1967[§][γ] |
1 year, 98 days | |
| 6 |  |
V. Viswanathan ICS (Retd) (1909–1987) |
Kerala | 15 May 1967 |
1 April 1973 |
5 years, 321 days | Zakir Husain |
| 7 |  |
N. N. Wanchoo ICS (Retd) (1910–1982) |
Madhya Pradesh | 1 April 1973 |
10 October 1977[§][δ] |
4 years, 192 days | V. V. Giri |
| 8 |  |
Jothi Venkatachalam (1917–1992) |
Tamil Nadu | 14 October 1977 |
27 October 1982 |
5 years, 13 days | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
| 9 |  |
P. Ramachandran (1921–2001) |
Tamil Nadu | 27 October 1982 |
23 February 1988 |
5 years, 119 days | Zail Singh |
| 10 |  |
Ram Dulari Sinha (1922–1994) |
Bihar | 23 February 1988 |
12 February 1990[‡] |
1 year, 354 days | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| 11 |  |
Sarup Singh (1917–2003) |
Haryana | 12 February 1990 |
20 December 1990[§][ε] |
311 days | |
| 12 |  |
B. Rachaiah (1922–2000) |
Karnataka | 20 December 1990 |
15 April 1995 |
4 years, 116 days | |
| 13 |  |
Gopala Ramanujam (1915–2001) (Acting) |
Tamil Nadu | 15 April 1995 |
30 April 1995 |
15 days | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| 14 | |
B. Rachaiah (1922–2000) |
Karnataka | 1 May 1995 |
11 November 1995 |
194 days | |
| 15 | .jpg) |
P. Shiv Shankar (1929–2017) |
Andhra Pradesh | 12 November 1995 |
4 May 1996[‡] |
171 days | |
| 16 | .jpg) |
Khurshed Alam Khan (1919–2013) (Additional Charge) |
Uttar Pradesh | 5 May 1996 |
25 January 1997 |
265 days | |
| 17 |  |
Justice (Retd) Sukhdev Singh Kang (1931–2012) |
Punjab | 25 January 1997 |
29 February 2000 |
3 years, 35 days | |
| 18 | .jpg) |
C. Rangarajan (born 1932) (Acting) |
Tamil Nadu | 29 February 2000 |
23 April 2000 |
54 days | K. R. Narayanan |
| 19 | |
Justice (Retd) Sukhdev Singh Kang (1931–2012) |
Punjab | 23 April 2000 |
19 October 2000 |
179 days | |
| 20 | |
C. Rangarajan (born 1932) (Acting) |
Tamil Nadu | 19 October 2000 |
7 November 2000 |
19 days | |
| 21 | |
Justice (Retd) Sukhdev Singh Kang (1931–2012) |
Punjab | 7 November 2000 |
14 September 2001 |
311 days | |
| 22 | .jpg) |
Mohammed Fazal (1922–2014) (Acting) |
Uttar Pradesh | 14 September 2001 |
28 September 2001 |
14 days | |
| 23 | |
Justice (Retd) Sukhdev Singh Kang (1931–2012) |
Punjab | 28 September 2001 |
16 February 2002 |
141 days | |
| 24 | |
C. Rangarajan (born 1932) (Acting) |
Tamil Nadu | 16 February 2002 |
28 February 2002 |
12 days | |
| 25 | |
Justice (Retd) Sukhdev Singh Kang (1931–2012) |
Punjab | 28 February 2002 |
18 April 2002 |
49 days | |
| 26 |  |
Sikander Bakht (1918–2004) |
National Capital Territory of Delhi | 18 April 2002 |
23 February 2004[†] |
1 year, 311 days | |
| 27 |  |
T. N. Chaturvedi IAS (Retd) (1928–2020) (Additional Charge) |
Uttar Pradesh | 25 February 2004 |
23 June 2004 |
119 days | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 28 |  |
R. L. Bhatia (1920–2021) |
Punjab | 23 June 2004 |
10 July 2008[§][ζ] |
4 years, 17 days | |
| 29 |  |
R. S. Gavai (1929–2015) |
Maharashtra | 11 July 2008 |
7 September 2011 |
3 years, 58 days | Pratibha Patil |
| 30 |  |
M. O. H. Farook (1937–2012) |
Puducherry | 8 September 2011 |
26 January 2012[†] |
140 days | |
| 31 |  |
H. R. Bhardwaj (1939–2020) (Additional Charge) |
Punjab | 26 January 2012 |
22 March 2013 |
1 year, 55 days | |
| 32 | .jpg) |
Nikhil Kumar IPS (Retd) (born 1941) |
Bihar | 23 March 2013 |
5 March 2014[‡][η] |
347 days | Pranab Mukherjee |
| 33 |  |
Sheila Dikshit (1938–2019) |
National Capital Territory of Delhi | 5 March 2014 |
5 September 2014[‡] |
184 days | |
| 34 |  |
Justice (Retd) P. Sathasivam (born 1949) |
Tamil Nadu | 5 September 2014 |
5 September 2019 |
5 years, 0 days | |
| 35 | .jpg) |
Arif Mohammad Khan (born 1951) |
Uttar Pradesh | 6 September 2019 |
1 January 2025[§][ζ] |
5 years, 117 days | Ram Nath Kovind |
| 36 |  |
Rajendra Arlekar (born 1954) |
Goa | 2 January 2025 |
Incumbent | 1 year, 122 days | Droupadi Murmu |
- Transferred as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh
- Transferred as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir
- Transferred as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh
- Transferred as the Governor of Gujarat
- Transferred as the Governor of Bihar
- Resigned to contest in the 2014 general election