List of governors of Bihar

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Last edited August 16, 2026


Governor of Bihar
Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Raj Bhavan
Flag of India
StyleHis Excellency
ResidenceRaj Bhavan, Patna, Bihar
AppointerPresident of India
Term lengthFive Years
Formation1 April 1936; 90 years ago (1936-04-01)
Websitegovernor.bih.nic.in
Location of Bihar in India.

The Governor of Bihar is a nominal head and representative of the President of India in the state of Bihar. The Governor is appointed by the President for a term of 5 years. Phagu Chauhan is the current governor of Bihar.[1][2] Former President Zakir Hussain and current President Ram Nath Kovind were two such Governors of Bihar who succeeded on to become the President of India.

Powers and functions[edit | edit source]

The Governor has:

  • Executive powers related to administration, appointments and removals,
  • Legislative powers related to lawmaking and the state legislature, that is Vidhan Sabha or Vidhan Parishad, and
  • Discretionary powers to be carried out according to the discretion of the Governor.
See also: Powers and functions of the Governor

In his ex-officio capacity, the Governor of Bihar is Chancellor of the universities of Bihar (at present 12) as per the Acts of the Universities.

Sir Hugh Dow and Sir Frederick Seaford – Dow was the last governor of Bihar under British Raj
Ram Nath Kovind was 26th Governor of Bihar who went on to become 14th President of India.

Governors of Bihar[edit | edit source]

Legend
  • † Died in office
  • § Transferred
  • ‡ Resigned/removed
Color key
  •    indicates acting/additional charge
# Portrait Name
(born – died) 		Home state Tenure in office Appointer
(President)
From To Time in office
1 Jairamdas Daulatram
(1891–1979 		Maharashtra 15 August
1947 		11 January
1948 		149 days Lord Mountbatten
(Governor-General)
2 Madhav Shrihari Aney
(1880–1968) 		Maharashtra 12 January
1948 		14 June
1952 		4 years, 154 days
3 R. R. Diwakar
(1894–1990) 		Karnataka 15 June
1952 		5 July
1957 		5 years, 20 days Rajendra Prasad
4 Zakir Husain
(1897–1969) 		Andhra Pradesh 6 July
1957 		11 May
1962[‡]Template:Efn-lg 		4 years, 309 days
5 M. A. Ayyangar
(1891–1978) 		Andhra Pradesh 12 May
1962 		6 December
1967 		5 years, 208 days
6 Nityanand Kanungo
(1900–1988) 		Orissa 7 December
1967 		20 January
1971 		3 years, 44 days Zakir Husain
– Error creating thumbnail: File missing Justice
Ujjal Narayan Sinha
Chief Justice, Patna High Court
(Acting) 		Bihar 21 January
1971 		31 January
1971 		10 days V. V. Giri
7 Dev Kant Barooah
(1914–1996) 		Assam 1 February
1971 		4 February
1973 		2 years, 3 days
8 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Ramchandra Dhondiba Bhandare
(1916–1988) 		Maharashtra 4 February
1973 		15 June
1976[§]Template:Efn-lg 		3 years, 132 days
9 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Jagannath Kaushal
(1915–2001) 		Chandigarh 16 June
1976 		31 January
1979 		2 years, 229 days Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
– Error creating thumbnail: File missing Justice
Krishna Ballabh Narayan Singh
(1922–1999)
Chief Justice, Patna High Court
(Acting) 		Bihar 31 January
1979 		19 September
1979 		231 days Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
10 Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai
(1921–2016) 		Delhi 20 September
1979 		15 March
1985 		5 years, 176 days
11 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Pendekanti Venkatasubbaiah
(1921–1983) 		Andhra Pradesh 15 March
1985 		25 February
1988[§]Template:Efn-lg 		2 years, 347 days Zail Singh
12 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Govind Narayan Singh
(1920–2005) 		Madhya Pradesh 26 February
1988 		24 January
1989[‡] 		333 days Ramaswamy Venkataraman
– Error creating thumbnail: File missing Justice
Dipak Kumar Sen
(born 1927)
Chief Justice, Patna High Court
(Acting) 		West Bengal 24 January
1989 		28 January
1989 		4 days
– Error creating thumbnail: File missing R. D. Pradhan
IAS (Retd)
(1928–2020)
Governor of Arunachal Pradesh
(Additional Charge) 		Maharashtra 29 January
1989 		2 March
1989 		32 days
13 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Jagannath Pahadia
(1932–2021) 		Rajasthan 3 March
1989 		2 February
1990[‡] 		336 days
– Error creating thumbnail: File missing Justice
Gangadhar Ganesh Sohani
Chief Justice, Patna High Court
(Acting) 		Madhya Pradesh 2 February
1990 		16 February
1990 		14 days
14 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Mohammad Yunus Saleem
(1912–2004) 		Uttar Pradesh 16 February
1990 		30 December
1990 		317 days
– B. Satya Narayan Reddy
(1927–2012)
Governor of Uttar Pradesh
(Acting) 		Andhra Pradesh 30 December
1990 		8 January
1991 		9 days
14 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Mohammad Yunus Saleem
(1912–2004) 		Uttar Pradesh 9 January
1991 		13 February
1991[‡] 		35 days
– B. Satya Narayan Reddy
(1927–2012)
Governor of Uttar Pradesh
(Additional Charge) 		Andhra Pradesh 14 February
1991 		18 March
1991 		32 days
15 Mohammad Shafi Qureshi
(1928–2016) 		Jammu and Kashmir 19 March
1991 		13 August
1993[§]Template:Efn-lg 		2 years, 147 days
(10) Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai
(1921–2016) 		Delhi 14 August
1993 		26 April
1998 		4 years, 255 days Shankar Dayal Sharma
16 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Sunder Singh Bhandari
(1921–2005) 		Rajasthan 27 April
1998 		15 March
1999[§]Template:Efn-lg 		322 days K. R. Narayanan
– Error creating thumbnail: File missing Justice
Brij Mohan Lal
(1937–2001)
Chief Justice, Patna High Court
(Acting) 		Delhi 15 March
1999 		5 October
1999 		204 days
– Error creating thumbnail: File missing Suraj Bhan
(1928–2006)
Governor of Uttar Pradesh
(Additional Charge) 		Haryana 6 October
1999 		22 November
1999 		47 days
17 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vinod Chandra Pande
IAS (Retd)
(1938–2005) 		Uttar Pradesh 23 November
1999 		12 June
2003[§]Template:Efn-lg 		3 years, 201 days
18 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Justice (Retd)
Mandagadde Rama Jois
(1931–2021) 		Karnataka 12 June
2003 		31 October
2004[‡] 		1 year, 141 days A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
– Error creating thumbnail: File missing Ved Marwah
IPS (Retd)
(1934–2020)
Governor of Jharkhand
(Additional Charge) 		Delhi 1 November
2004 		4 November
2004 		3 days
19 Buta Singh
(1934–2021) 		Punjab 5 November
2004 		29 January
2006[‡] 		1 year, 85 days
– Gopalkrishna Gandhi
IAS (Retd)
(born 1945)
Governor of West Bengal
(Additional Charge) 		Delhi 31 January
2006 		21 June
2006 		141 days
20 R. S. Gavai
(1929–2015) 		Maharashtra 22 June
2006 		9 July
2008[§]Template:Efn-lg 		2 years, 17 days
21 R. L. Bhatia
(1920–2021) 		Punjab 10 July
2008 		28 June
2009 		353 days Pratibha Patil
22 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Devanand Konwar
(1934–2020) 		Assam 29 June
2009 		21 March
2013[§]Template:Efn-lg 		3 years, 265 days
23 D. Y. Patil
(born 1935) 		Maharashtra 22 March
2013 		26 November
2014 		1 year, 249 days Pranab Mukherjee
– Keshari Nath Tripathi
(1934–2023)
Governor of West Bengal
(Additional Charge) 		Uttar Pradesh 27 November
2014 		15 August
2015 		261 days
24 Ram Nath Kovind
(born 1945) 		Uttar Pradesh 16 August
2015 		20 June
2017[‡]Template:Efn-lg 		1 year, 308 days
– Keshari Nath Tripathi
(1934–2023)
Governor of West Bengal
(Additional Charge) 		Uttar Pradesh 20 June
2017 		29 September
2017 		101 days
25 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Satya Pal Malik
(1946–2025) 		Uttar Pradesh 30 September
2017 		22 August
2018[§]Template:Efn-lg 		326 days Ram Nath Kovind
26 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Lalji Tandon
(1935–2020) 		Uttar Pradesh 23 August
2018 		28 July
2019[§]Template:Efn-lg 		339 days
27 Phagu Chauhan
(born 1948) 		Uttar Pradesh 29 July
2019 		16 February
2023[§]Template:Efn-lg 		3 years, 202 days
28 Rajendra Arlekar
(born 1954) 		Goa 17 February
2023 		1 January
2025[§]Template:Efn-lg 		1 year, 319 days Droupadi Murmu
29 Arif Mohammad Khan
(born 1951) 		Uttar Pradesh 2 January
2025 		14 March
2026 		1 year, 71 days
43 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Lieutenant General

Syed Ata Hasnain (born 1953)

Uttarakhand 14 March
2026 		Incumbent 158 days

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "President Kovind Appoints 5 New Governors, Tamil Nadu Gets Its Own After A Year". NDTV.com. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  2. ↑ Mohan, Archis (21 August 2018). "Satya Pal Malik new J&K Governor, Lalji Tandon takes his place in Bihar". Business Standard India. Retrieved 21 August 2018.

External links[edit | edit source]

Template:Government of Bihar Template:Governor of Bihar

Template:Administrators of provinces in British India

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