List of governors of Karnataka

The governor of Karnataka, formerly governor of Mysore, is the constitutional head of the Indian state of Karnataka. 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 government of Karnataka; 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 of Karnataka, which thus holds de facto executive authority in the state. The Constitution of India also empowers the governor to act upon his or her 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 central government–appointed governor.[1]

Governor of Karnataka
Karnāṭakada Rājyapālaru
since 11 July 2021
Style
  • Hon’ble Governor (Within India (English)
  • His/Her Excellency (Outside India)
  • Rajyapaal Mahodaya
StatusHead of State
ResidenceRaj Bhavan, Bengaluru
AppointerPresident of India
Term lengthFive years
PrecursorGovernor of Mysore
Inaugural holderMohan Lal Sukhadia
Formation
Websitewww.rajbhavan.kar.nic.in

Since 1956, eighteen people have served as the governor of Mysore (as the state was known before 1 November 1973) and Karnataka. The first was Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, who was the state's rajpramukh from 1950 to 1956. A majority of Karnataka's governors have been politicians (ten), another five have been civil servants. V. V. Giri went on become the fourth president of India, and Gopal Swarup Pathak the country's fourth vice president. Smt V. S. Ramadevi was the first and only woman governor of Karnataka (1999–2002) and also holds the record of first woman chief election commissioner in india.

Maharaja of Mysore

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No Name Portrait Term of office Duration Selected former office(s)
1 Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar   15 August 1947 25 January 1950 2 years, 163 days Yuvaraja of Mysore

Rajpramukh of Mysore

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No Name Portrait Term of office Duration Selected former office(s)
1 Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar   26 January 1950 31 October 1956 6 years, 279 days Maharaja of Mysore

Governors of Karnataka

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This is a list of governors of Karnataka:

No. Name
(born – died)
Portrait Home state Tenure in office Immediate prior position held Appointed by
(President)
From To Time in office
Governor of Mysore State
1 Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar
(1919–1974)
  Karnataka 1 November
1956
4 May
1964
7 years, 185 days Rajpramukh of Mysore State Rajendra Prasad
2 S. M. Shrinagesh
(1903–1977)
  Maharashtra 4 May
1964
2 April
1965
333 days Governor of Andhra Pradesh Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
3 V. V. Giri
(1894–1980)
  Orissa 2 April
1965
13 May
1967
2 years, 41 days Governor of Uttar Pradesh
4 G. S. Pathak
(1896–1982)
  Uttar Pradesh 13 May
1967
30 August
1969
2 years, 109 days Union Cabinet Minister of Law and Justice
Justice
A. R. Somanath Iyer
Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court
(Acting)
  Tamil Nadu 30 August
1969
23 October
1969
54 days Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court V. V. Giri
5 Dharma Vira
(1906–2000)
  Uttar Pradesh 23 October
1969
1 February
1972
2 years, 101 days Governor of West Bengal
6 Mohan Lal Sukhadia
(1916–1982)
  Rajasthan 1 February
1972
31 October
1973
1 year, 272 days Chief Minister of Rajasthan
Governor of Karnataka
(6) Mohan Lal Sukhadia
(1916–1982)
  Rajasthan 1 November
1973
10 January
1976
2 years, 70 days Governor of Mysore State V. V. Giri
7 Uma Shankar Dikshit
(1901–1991)
  Uttar Pradesh 10 January
1976
2 August
1977
1 year, 204 days Union Cabinet Minister for Home Affairs Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
8 Govind Narain
(1916–2012)
  Uttar Pradesh 2 August
1977
15 April
1983
6 years, 256 days Member of Andhra Pradesh Administration Tribunal B. D. Jatti
(acting)
9 Ashoknath Banerji
(1929–2006)
  West Bengal 16 April
1983
25 February
1988
4 years, 315 days Governor of Himachal Pradesh Zail Singh
10 Pendekanti Venkatasubbaiah
(1921–1993)
  Andhra Pradesh 26 February
1988
5 February
1990
1 year, 344 days Governor of Bihar Ramaswamy Venkataraman
Justice
S. Mohan
Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court
(Acting)
  Tamil Nadu 5 February
1990
8 May
1990
92 days Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court
11 Bhanu Pratap Singh
(1917–?)
  Uttar Pradesh 8 May
1990
6 January
1991
243 days
12 Khurshed Alam Khan
(1919–2013)
  Uttar Pradesh 6 January
1991
2 December
1999
8 years, 330 days Governor of Goa
13 V. S. Ramadevi
(1934–2013)
  Andhra Pradesh 2 December
1999
20 February
2002
2 years, 80 days Governor of Himachal Pradesh K. R. Narayanan
14 T. N. Chaturvedi
(1928–2020)
  Uttar Pradesh 21 August
2002
20 August
2007
4 years, 364 days Member, Joint Committee on Installation of Portraits and statues of National Leaders and Parliamentarians in Parliament House A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
15 Rameshwar Thakur
(1925–2015)
  Jharkhand 21 August
2007
24 June
2009
1 year, 307 days Governor of Andhra Pradesh Pratibha Patil
16 H. R. Bhardwaj
(1939–2020)
  Punjab 24 June
2009
29 June
2014
5 years, 5 days Union Cabinet Minister of Law and Justice
K. Rosaiah
(1933–2021)
(Additional charge)
  Andhra Pradesh 29 June
2014
31 August
2014
63 days Governor of Tamil Nadu Pranab Mukherjee
17 Vajubhai Vala
(born 1937)
  Gujarat 1 September
2014
10 July
2021
6 years, 312 days Speaker of Gujarat Legislative Assembly
18 Thawar Chand Gehlot
(born 1948)
  Madhya Pradesh 11 July
2021
Incumbent 3 years, 126 days Union Cabinet Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Ram Nath Kovind

Chief ministers of Karnataka under governors

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List of Diwans of Mysore
Chief Ministers of Mysore State
(1947–1956)
Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar
(1947–1956)
K. Chengalaraya Reddy Oct 1947 - Mar 1952
K. Hanumanthaiah Mar 1952 - Aug 1956
Kadidal Manjappa Aug 1956 - Oct 1956
Chief Ministers of Reorganised Mysore State
(1956–1972)
Rajpramukh Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar
(1956-1963)
S. Nijalingappa Nov 1956 - May 1958
B. D. Jatti May 1958 - Mar 1962
S. R. Kanthi Mar 1962 - Jun 1962
S. Nijalingappa Jun 1962 - May 1964
S M Srinagesh
(1964-1965)
May 1964 - 1965
V. V. Giri
(1965-1967)
1965 - 1967
Gopal Swarup Pathak
(1967-1969)
1967 - May 1968
Veerendra Patil May 1968 - 1969
Dharma Vira
(1969-1972)
1969 - Mar 1971
Chief Ministers of Karnataka
(1972-present)
Mohanlal Sukhadia
(1972-1975)
D. Devaraj Urs Mar 1972 - 1975
Uma Shankar Dikshit
(1975-1977)
1972 - Dec 1977
Govind Narain
(1977-1982)
Feb 1977 - Jan 1980
R. Gundu Rao Jan 1980 - 1982
Ashoknath Banerji
(1982-1987)
1982 - Jan 1983
Ramakrishna Hegde Jan 1983 - 1987
Pendekanti Venkatasubbaiah
(1987-1990)
1987 - Aug 1988
S. R. Bommai Aug 1988 - Apr 1989
Veerendra Patil Nov 1989 - Oct 1990
Bhanu Pratap Singh
(1990-1992)
S. Bangarappa Oct 1990- Nov 1992
Khurshed Alam Khan
(1992-1999)
M. Veerappa Moily Nov 1992 - Dec 1994
H. D. Deve Gowda Dec 1994 - May 1996
J. H. Patel May 1996 - Oct 1999
V. S. Ramadevi
(1999-2002)
S. M. Krishna Oct 1999 - 2002
T. N. Chaturvedi
(2002-2007)
2002 - May 2004
Dharam Singh May 2004 - Jan 2006
H. D. Kumaraswamy Feb 2006 - Oct 2007
Rameshwar Thakur
(2007-2009)
B. S. Yeddyurappa Nov 2007 - Nov 2007
May 2008 - 2009
Hans Raj Bhardwaj
(2009-2014)
2009 - Jul 2011
D. V. Sadananda Gowda Jul 2011 - Jul 2012
Jagadish Shettar Jul 2012 - May 2013
Siddaramaiah May 2013 - 2014
Konijeti Rosaiah
(2014)
2014
Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala
(2014-2021)
2014 - 2018
H. D. Kumaraswamy 2018 - 2019
B. S. Yeddyurappa 2019 - 2021
Thawar Chand Gehlot
(2021-present)
Basavaraj Bommai 2021 - 2023
Siddaramaiah 2023-present

References

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  1. ^ 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 Karnataka as well.
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