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.
Since 2 January 2025, Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, is the 28th governor of Kerala.
List
;Legend
- Died in office
- Transferred
- Resigned/removed
;Color key
- indicates acting/additional charge
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; border:1px #aaf solid;"
! rowspan="2"|
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable"| Portrait
! rowspan="2" style="width:14em" | Name<br><small>(borndied)</small>
! rowspan="2" style="width:7em" | Home state
! colspan="3"| Tenure in office
! rowspan="2" style="width:7em" | Appointer<br/>(President)
|-
! style="width:7em"| From
! style="width:7em"| To
! style="width:5em"| Time in office
|-
! 1
| bgcolor="wheat"|70px
| bgcolor="wheat"|P. S. Rao<br/><small>(Acting)</small>
| bgcolor="wheat"|Andhra Pradesh
| bgcolor="wheat"|<br/>1956
| bgcolor="wheat"|<br/>1956
| bgcolor="wheat"|
| rowspan="3"| Rajendra Prasad
|-
! 2
| 70px
| Burgula Ramakrishna Rao<br/>
| Andhra Pradesh
| <br/>1956
| <br/>1960
|
|-
! 3
| 70px
| V. V. Giri<br/>
| Madras Presidency
| <br/>1960
| <br/>1965
|
|-
! 4
| 70px
| Ajit Prasad Jain<br/>
| Uttar Pradesh
| <br/>1965
| <br/>1966
|
| rowspan="2"| Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
|-
! 5
| 70px
| Bhagwan Sahay<br/>
| Uttar Pradesh
| <br/>1966
| <br/>1967
|
|-
! 6
| 70px
| V. Viswanathan<br/>
| Kerala
| <br/>1967
| <br/>1973
|
| Zakir Husain
|-
! 7
| 70px
| N. N. Wanchoo<br/>
| Madhya Pradesh
| <br/>1973
| <br/>1977
|
| V. V. Giri
|-
! 8
| 70px
| Jothi Venkatachalam<br/>
| Tamil Nadu
| <br/>1977
| <br/>1982
|
| Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
|-
! 9
| 70px
| P. Ramachandran<br/>
| Tamil Nadu
| <br/>1982
| <br/>1988
|
| Zail Singh
|-
! 10
| 70px
| Ram Dulari Sinha<br/>
| Bihar
| <br/>1988
| <br/>1990
|
| rowspan="3"| Ramaswamy Venkataraman
|-
! 11
| 70px
| Sarup Singh<br/>
| Haryana
| <br/>1990
| <br/>1990
|
|-
! 12
| 70px
| B. Rachaiah<br/>
| Karnataka
| <br/>1990
| <br/>1995
|
|-
! 13
| bgcolor="wheat"| 70px
| bgcolor="wheat"| Gopala Ramanujam<br/><br/><small>(Acting)</small>
| bgcolor="wheat"| Tamil Nadu
| bgcolor="wheat"| <br/>1995
| bgcolor="wheat"| <br/>1995
| bgcolor="wheat"|
| rowspan="5"| Shankar Dayal Sharma
|-
! 14
| 70px
| B. Rachaiah<br/>
| Karnataka
| <br/>1995
| <br/>1995
|
|-
! 15
| 70px
| P. Shiv Shankar<br/>
| Andhra Pradesh
| <br/>1995
| <br/>1996
|
|- bgcolor="wheat"
! 16
| 70px
| Khurshed Alam Khan<br/><br/><small>(Additional Charge)</small>
| Uttar Pradesh
| <br/>1996
| <br/>1997
|
|-
! 17
| 70px
| <br/>Sukhdev Singh Kang<br/>
| Punjab
| <br/>1997
| <br/>2002
|
|-
! 18
| 70px
| Sikander Bakht<br />
| National Capital Territory of Delhi
| <br />2002
| <br />2004
|
|K. R. Narayanan
|-
! 19
| bgcolor="wheat" | 70px
| bgcolor="wheat" | T. N. Chaturvedi<br /><br /><small>(Additional Charge)</small>
| bgcolor="wheat" | Uttar Pradesh
| bgcolor="wheat" | <br />2004
| bgcolor="wheat" | <br />2004
| bgcolor="wheat" |
| rowspan="2" | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
|-
! 20
| 70px
| R. L. Bhatia<br />
| Punjab
| <br />2004
| <br />2008
|
|-
! 21
| 70px
| R. S. Gavai<br />
| Maharashtra
| <br />2008
| <br />2011
|
| rowspan="3" | Pratibha Patil
|-
! 22
| 70px
| M. O. H. Farook<br />
| Puducherry
| <br />2011
| <br />2012
|
|- bgcolor="wheat"
! 23
| 70px
| H. R. Bhardwaj<br /><br /><small>(Additional Charge)</small>
| Punjab
| <br />2012
| <br />2013
|
|-
! 24
| 70px
| Nikhil Kumar<br />
| Bihar
| <br />2013
| <br />2014
|
| rowspan="3" | Pranab Mukherjee
|-
! 25
| 70px
| Sheila Dikshit<br />
| National Capital Territory of Delhi
| <br />2014
| <br />2014
|
|-
! 26
| 70px
| <br />P. Sathasivam<br />
| Tamil Nadu
| <br />2014
| <br />2019
|
|-
! 27
| 70px
| Arif Mohammad Khan<br />
| Uttar Pradesh
| <br />2019
| <br />2025
|
| Ram Nath Kovind
|-
! 28
| 70px
| Rajendra Arlekar<br />
| Goa
| <br />2025
| Incumbent
|
| Droupadi Murmu
|-
|}
== Oath== Aaya njan... (Your Name) , daivanamathil prathijna cheyyunnu: njan niyamaprakaram sthabhithamadhitta Bharata ranyaghadanaye prathiyullavum, athodu thudarnnullavumaya bhakthiyum vishwasthathayum pularthumennum; njan... (Name of State) gadhapradipathyude karthavyangal vishwasthathayodu koodi nirvahikkumennum; ennil nikhshipthamaya kazhivukal upayogichu ranyaghadanaye-yum niyamathaye-yum samrakshikkumennum, paripalikkumennum, prathirodhikkumennum; athupole... (Name of State) janangngalude sevanyathilum kshemathilum njan enne-thanne samarppikkumennum prathijna cheyyunnu."
See also
- Kerala
- Governors of India
- Chief Minister of Kerala
References
External links
- Governors of Kerala