In India, a governor is the constitutional head of each of the twenty-eight states. The governor is appointed by the President of India for a term of five years, and holds office at the President's pleasure. The governor is de jure head of the state government; all its executive actions are taken in the governor's name. However, the governor must act on the advice of the popularly elected council of ministers, headed by the chief minister, who thus hold de facto executive authority at the state-level. 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. Over the years, the exercise of these discretionary powers have given rise to conflict between the elected chief minister and the union government–appointed governor.[1] The union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Puducherry are headed by lieutenant governors.As of 26 April 2024, Any woman not served as the administrator of any three union territories and Delhi does not have any woman lieutenant governor.
Sarojini Naidu was the first woman to become the governor of an Indian state.[2] She governed Uttar Pradesh from 15 August 1947 to 2 March 1949. Her daughter, Padmaja Naidu, is the longest-serving female governor with almost 11 years tenure in West Bengal.[3] Tamilisai Soundararajan is the recentmost appointment as the first female governor of Telangana.[4]
* Incumbent governor
S. No. | Name | Image | From | To | Term length | State | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sarojini Naidu | 15 August 1947 | 2 March 1949 | 1 year, 199 days | United Provinces | [5] | |
2 | Padmaja Naidu | 3 November 1956 | 31 May 1967 | 10 years, 209 days | West Bengal | [6] | |
3 | Vijayalakshmi Pandit | 28 November 1962 | 18 October 1964 | 1 year, 325 days | Maharashtra | [7] | |
4 | Sharda Mukherjee | 5 May 1977 | 14 August 1978 | 1 year, 101 days | Andhra Pradesh | [8] | |
14 August 1978 | 5 August 1983 | 4 years, 356 days | Gujarat | [9] | |||
5 | Jothi Venkatachalam | 14 October 1977 | 27 October 1982 | 5 years, 13 days | Kerala | [10] | |
6 | Kumudben Joshi | 26 November 1985 | 2 February 1990 | 4 years, 68 days | Andhra Pradesh | [11] | |
7 | Ram Dulari Sinha | 23 February 1988 | 12 February 1990 | 1 year, 354 days | Kerala | [10] | |
8 | Sarla Grewal | 31 March 1989 | 5 February 1990 | 311 days | Madhya Pradesh | [12] | |
9 | Sheila Kaul | 17 November 1995 | 23 April 1996 | 158 days | Himachal Pradesh | [13] | |
10 | Fathima Beevi | 25 January 1997 | 1 July 2001 | 4 years, 157 days | Tamil Nadu | [14] | |
11 | V. S. Ramadevi | 26 July 1997 | 1 December 1999 | 2 years, 128 days | Himachal Pradesh | [13] | |
2 December 1999 | 20 August 2002 | 2 years, 261 days | Karnataka | [15] | |||
12 | Pratibha Devisingh Patil | 8 November 2004 | 23 June 2007 | 2 years, 227 days | Rajasthan | [16] | |
13 | Prabha Rau | 19 July 2008 | 24 January 2010 | 1 year, 189 days | Himachal Pradesh | [13] | |
25 January 2010 | 26 April 2010 | 91 days | Rajasthan | [17] | |||
14 | Margaret Alva | 6 August 2009 | 14 May 2012 | 2 years, 262 days | Uttarakhand | [18] | |
12 May 2012 | 7 August 2014 | 2 years, 87 days | Rajasthan | [19] | |||
15 | Kamla Beniwal | 27 November 2009 | 6 July 2014 | 4 years, 221 days | Gujarat | [20] | |
6 July 2014 | 6 August 2014 | 31 days | Mizoram | [21] | |||
16 | Urmila Singh | 25 January 2010 | 27 January 2015 | 5 years, 2 days | Himachal Pradesh | [22] | |
17 | Sheila Dikshit | 11 March 2014 | 25 August 2014 | 167 days | Kerala | [23] | |
18 | Mridula Sinha | 31 August 2014 | 2 November 2019 | 5 years, 63 days | Goa | [24] | |
19 | Droupadi Murmu | 18 May 2015 | 13 July 2021 | 6 years, 56 days | Jharkhand | [25] | |
20 | Najma Heptulla | 21 August 2016 | 10 August 2021 | 4 years, 354 days | Manipur | [26] | |
21 | Anandiben Patel* | 23 January 2018 | 28 July 2019 | 1 year, 186 days | Madhya Pradesh | [27] | |
15 August 2018 | 28 July 2019 | 347 days | Chhattisgarh | [28] | |||
29 July 2019 | Incumbent | 4 years, 272 days | Uttar Pradesh | [29] | |||
22 | Baby Rani Maurya | 26 August 2018 | 15 September 2021 | 3 years, 20 days | Uttarakhand | [30] | |
23 | Anusuiya Uikey* | 29 July 2019 | 22 February 2023 | 3 years, 208 days | Chhattisgarh | [31] | |
23 February 2023 | Incumbent | 1 year, 63 days | Manipur | ||||
24 | Tamilisai Soundararajan | 8 September 2019 | 18 March 2024 | 4 years, 192 days | Telangana | [32] |
* Incumbent lieutenant governor
No. | Portrait | Name
(Birth–Death) |
Home state | Term of office | Union territory | Appointed by | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
1 | Chandravathi (1928–2020) |
Haryana | 19 February 1990 | 18 December 1990 | 302 days | Puducherry | R. Venkataraman | |
2 | Rajendra Kumari Bajpai (1925–1999) |
Bihar | 2 May 1995 | 22 April 1998 | 2 years, 355 days | Shanker Dayal Sharma | ||
3 | Rajani Rai (1931–2013) |
Maharashtra | 23 April 1998 | 29 July 2002 | 4 years, 97 days | K. R. Narayanan | ||
4 | Kiran Bedi (1949–) |
Punjab | 29 May 2016 | 16 February 2021 | 4 years, 263 days | Pranab Mukherjee | ||
5 | Tamilisai Soundararajan (1961–) |
Tamil Nadu | 16 February 2021 | 18 March 2024 | 3 years, 31 days | Ram Nath Kovind |