| 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 | www |
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]
Since 2 January 2025, Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, is the 28th governor of Kerala.
List[edit | edit source]
- 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 |
21 November |
20 days | Rajendra Prasad |
| 2 | .jpg)
|
Burgula Ramakrishna Rao (1899–1967) |
Andhra Pradesh |
22 November |
1 July |
3 years, 222 days | |
| 3 | 
|
V. V. Giri (1894–1980) |
Madras Presidency |
1 July |
2 April |
4 years, 275 days | |
| 4 | 
|
Ajit Prasad Jain (1902–1977) |
Uttar Pradesh |
2 April |
6 February |
310 days | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| 5 | 
|
Bhagwan Sahay ICS (Retd) |
Uttar Pradesh |
6 February |
15 May |
1 year, 98 days | |
| 6 | 
|
V. Viswanathan ICS (Retd) |
Kerala |
15 May |
1 April |
5 years, 321 days | Zakir Husain |
| 6 | 
|
N. N. Wanchoo ICS (Retd) |
Madhya Pradesh |
1 April |
10 October |
4 years, 192 days | V. V. Giri |
| 7 | 
|
Jothi Venkatachalam (1917–1992) |
Tamil Nadu |
14 October |
27 October |
5 years, 13 days | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
| 8 | 
|
P. Ramachandran (1921–2001) |
Tamil Nadu |
27 October |
23 February |
5 years, 119 days | Zail Singh |
| 9 | 
|
Ram Dulari Sinha (1922–1994) |
Bihar |
23 February |
12 February |
1 year, 354 days | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| 10 | 
|
Sarup Singh (1917–2003) |
Haryana |
12 February |
20 December |
311 days | |
| 11 | 
|
B. Rachaiah (1922–2000) |
Karnataka |
20 December |
15 April |
4 years, 116 days | |
| 12 | 
|
Gopala Ramanujam (1915–2001) |
Tamil Nadu |
15 April |
30 April |
15 days | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| 13 |
|
B. Rachaiah (1922–2000) |
Karnataka |
1 May |
11 November |
194 days | |
| 14 | .jpg)
|
P. Shiv Shankar (1929–2017) |
Andhra Pradesh |
12 November |
4 May |
171 days | |
| 15 | .jpg)
|
Khurshed Alam Khan (1919–2013) |
Uttar Pradesh |
5 May |
25 January |
265 days | |
| 16 | 
|
Justice (Retd) |
Punjab |
25 January |
18 April |
5 years, 83 days | |
| 17 | 
|
Sikander Bakht (1918–2004) |
National Capital Territory of Delhi |
18 April |
23 February |
1 year, 311 days | K. R. Narayanan |
| 18 | 
|
T. N. Chaturvedi IAS (Retd) |
Uttar Pradesh |
25 February |
23 June |
119 days | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 19 | 
|
R. L. Bhatia (1920–2021) |
Punjab |
23 June |
10 July |
4 years, 17 days | |
| 20 | 
|
R. S. Gavai (1929–2015) |
Maharashtra |
11 July |
7 September |
3 years, 58 days | Pratibha Patil |
| 21 | 
|
M. O. H. Farook (1937–2012) |
Puducherry |
8 September |
26 January |
140 days | |
| 22 | 
|
H. R. Bhardwaj (1939–2020) |
Punjab |
26 January |
22 March |
1 year, 55 days | |
| 23 | .jpg)
|
Nikhil Kumar IPS (Retd) |
Bihar |
23 March |
5 March |
347 days | Pranab Mukherjee |
| 24 | 
|
Sheila Dikshit (1938–2019) |
National Capital Territory of Delhi |
5 March |
5 September |
184 days | |
| 25 | 
|
Justice (Retd) |
Tamil Nadu |
5 September |
5 September |
5 years, 0 days | |
| 26 | .png)
|
Arif Mohammad Khan (born 1951) |
Uttar Pradesh |
6 September |
1 January |
5 years, 117 days | Ram Nath Kovind |
| 27 | 
|
Rajendra Arlekar (born 1954) |
Goa |
2 January |
Incumbent | 1 year, 247 days | Droupadi Murmu |
See also[edit | edit source]
External links[edit | edit source]
Oath[edit | edit source]
“I, A. B., do swear in the name of God/solemly affirm that I will faithfully execute the office of Governor (or discharge the functions of the Governor) of .............(name of the State) and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law and that I will devote myself to the service and well-being of the people of ..………(name of the State).”
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 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.
