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List of governors of Tamil Nadu

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Governor of Tamil Nadu
Tamiḻnāṭu Āḷunar
Incumbent
R. N. Ravi
since 18 September 2021
StyleHis Excellency
StatusHead of State
Reports toPresident of India
Government of India
Residence
AppointerPresident of India
Term lengthFive years
Renewable
Inaugural holderArchibald Edward Nye
(1946–1948)
Formation6 May 1946; 78 years ago (1946-05-06)
Salary350,000 (US$4,200) (per month)
Websitewww.tnrajbhavan.gov.in
The state of Tamil Nadu in India has had 26 Governors since 1946

The governor of Tamil Nadu is the head of state of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Governors in India have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at the central level. They exist in the state appointed by the president of India for a term of five years and they are not local to the state that they are appointed to govern. The factors based on which the president evaluates the candidates is not mentioned in the constitution. The governor acts as the nominal head whereas the real power lies with the chief minister of the state and their council of ministers.

The current incumbent is R. N. Ravi, who has served since 18 September 2021.

Powers and functions

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The governor enjoys many different types of powers:

  • 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.

Governors

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Madras Presidency and Madras State

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Headquartered in Fort St. George, Madras Presidency was a province of British India. It comprised present-day Tamil Nadu, the Malabar region of North Kerala, the coastal and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh, and the Bellary, Dakshina Kannada, and Udupi districts of Karnataka. It was established in 1653 to be the headquarters of the English settlements on the Coromandel Coast. After India's independence in 1947, Madras State, the precursor to the present day state of Tamil Nadu, was carved out of Madras Presidency. It comprised present-day Tamil Nadu and parts of present-day Karnataka and Kerala.[1]

Tabular

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# Name Portrait Took office Left office Term[nb 1]
1 William Thomas Denison 18 February 1861 26 November 1863
2 Edward Maltby (acting) 26 November 1863 18 January 1864
3 William Thomas Denison 18 January 1864 27 March 1866
4 Lord Napier 27 March 1866 19 February 1872
5 Alexander John Arbuthnot (acting) 19 February 1872 15 May 1872
6 Lord Hobart 15 May 1872 29 April 1875
7 William Rose Robinson (acting) 29 April 1875 23 November 1875
8 Duke of Buckingham and Chandos 23 November 1875 20 December 1880
9 William Huddleston (acting) 24 May 1881 5 November 1881
10 Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff 5 November 1881 8 December 1886
11 Robert Bourke, Baron Connemara 8 December 1886 1 December 1890
12 John Henry Garstin 1 December 1890 23 January 1891
13 Bentley Lawley, Baron Wenlock 23 January 1891 18 March 1896
14 Arthur Elibank Havelock 18 March 1896 28 December 1900
15 Arthur Oliver Villiers-Russell, Baron Ampthill 28 December 1900 30 April 1904
16 James Thompson (acting) 30 April 1904 13 December 1904
17 Arthur Oliver Villiers-Russell, Baron Ampthill 13 December 1904 15 February 1906
18 Gabriel Stoles (acting) 15 February 1906 28 March 1906
19 Arthur Lawley, Baron Wenlock 28 March 1906 3 November 1911
20 Thomas David Gibson-Carmichael, Baron Carmichael 3 November 1911 30 March 1912
21 Sir Murray Hammick (acting) 30 March 1912 30 October 1912
22 John Sinclair, Baron Pentland 30 October 1912 29 March 1919
23 Sir Alexander Gordon Cardew 29 March 1919 10 April 1919
24 George Freeman Freeman-Thomas, Baron Willingdon 10 April 1919 12 April 1924
25 Sir P. Rajagopalachari 1920 1923
26 Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Edward Nye[2] 6 May 1946 7 September 1948 1
# Name Portrait Took office Left office Term[nb 1]
27 Maharaja Sir Krishna Kumarasinhji Bhavsinhji 7 September 1948 12 March 1952 1
28 Sri Prakasa 12 March 1952 10 December 1956 1
29 A. J. John 10 December 1956 30 September 1957 1
- Pakala Venkata Rajamannar (acting) 1 October 1957 24 January 1958 1
30 Bhishnuram Medhi 24 January 1958 4 May 1964 1
31 Maharaja Sir Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur 4 May 1964 24 November 1964 1
- P. Chandra Reddy (acting)[3] 24 November 1964 7 December 1965 1
(31) Maharaja Sir Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur[nb 2] 7 December 1965 28 June 1966 1
32 Sardar Ujjal Singh (acting) 28 June 1966 14 January 1969 1

Graphical

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Sardar Ujjal SinghMaharaja Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur of MysoreP. Chandra ReddyMaharaja Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur of MysoreBhishnuram MedhiDr. Pakala Venkata RajamannarA. J. John, AnaparambilSri PrakasaMaharaja Krishna Kumarasingh BhavasinghSir Archibald Edward Nye

Tamil Nadu

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Madras State was renamed as Tamil Nadu (Tamil for Tamil country) on 14 January 1969. Governors have similar powers and functions at the state level as that of the President of India at the Central government level. The Governor acts as the nominal head of the state while the Chief Ministers of the states and the Chief Minister's Council of Ministers are invested with most executive powers.

No. Name

(Birth–Death)

Portrait Home state Term of office[4] Previous post Appointed by
Assumed office Left office Time in office
1 Ujjal Singh
(1895–1983)
Punjab 14 January 1969 25 May 1971 2 years, 131 days Governor of Punjab Zakir Hussain
2 K. K. Shah
(1908–1986)
Gujarat 26 May 1971 15 June 1976 5 years, 20 days Varahagiri Venkata Giri
3 Mohan Lal Sukhadia
(1916–1982)
Rajasthan 16 June 1976 8 April 1977 296 days Governor of Andhra Pradesh Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
- P. Govindan Nair
(Unknown–Unknown)(Acting)
Kerala 9 April 1977 26 April 1977 17 days B. D. Jatti (Acting President)
4 Prabhudas B. Patwari
(1909–1985)
Gujarat 27 April 1977 26 October 1980 3 years, 182 days Indian Lawyer
- M. M. Ismail
(1921–2005) (Acting)
Tamil Nadu 27 October 1980 3 November 1980 37 days Chief Justice of Madras High Court Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
5 Sadiq Ali
(1910–2001)
Rajasthan 4 November 1980 2 September 1982 1 year, 302 days Governor of Maharashtra
6 S. L. Khurana
(1918–2007)
National Capital Territory of Delhi 3 September 1982 16 February 1988 5 years, 166 days Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Giani Zail Singh
7 P. C. Alexander
(1921–2011)
Kerala 17 February 1988 23 May 1990 2 years, 95 days I.A.S. Officer R. Venkataraman
8 Surjit Singh Barnala
(1925–2017)
Haryana 24 May 1990 14 February 1991 266 days Chief Minister of Punjab
9 Bhishma Narain Singh
(1933–2018)
Rajasthan 15 February 1991 30 May 1993 2 years, 104 days Governor of Assam
10 M. Channa Reddy
(1919–1996)
Andhra Pradesh 31 May 1993 2 December 1996[†] 3 years, 185 days Governor of Rajasthan Shanker Dayal Sharma
Krishan Kant
(1927–2002) (Acting)
Punjab 2 December 1996 24 January 1997 53 days Governor of Andhra Pradesh
11 M. Fathima Beevi
(1927–2023)
Kerala 25 January 1997 2 July 2001 4 years, 158 days Judge of the Supreme Court of India
- C. Rangarajan
(1932-) (Acting)
Tamil Nadu 3 July 2001 17 January 2002 198 days Governor of the Reserve Bank of India K. R. Narayanan
12 P. S. Ramamohan Rao
(1934-)
Andhra Pradesh 18 January 2002 2 November 2004 2 years, 289 days Director General of Andhra Pradesh Police A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
(8) Surjit Singh Barnala
(1925–2017)
Haryana 3 November 2004 30 August 2011 6 years, 300 days Governor of Andhra Pradesh
13 Konijeti Rosaiah
(1933–2021)
Andhra Pradesh 31 August 2011 1 September 2016 5 years, 1 day Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Pratibha Devisingh Patil
C. Vidyasagar Rao
(1942–)
Andhra Pradesh 2 September 2016 5 October 2017 1 year, 33 days Governor of Maharashtra Pranab Mukherjee
14 Banwarilal Purohit
(1939–)
Rajasthan 6 October 2017 17 September 2021 3 years, 346 days Governor of Assam Ram Nath Kovind
15 R. N. Ravi
(1952–)
Bihar 18 September 2021 Incumbent 3 years, 78 days Governor of Nagaland
Graphical
R. N. RaviBanwarilal PurohitC. Vidyasagar RaoKonijeti RosaiahSurjit Singh BarnalaP. S. Ramamohan RaoC. RangarajanM. Fathima BeeviKrishan KantMarri Chenna ReddyBhishma Narain SinghSurjit Singh BarnalaP. C. AlexanderSundar Lal KhuranaSadiq AliM. M. IsmailPrabhudas PatwariP. Govindan NairMohan Lal SukhadiaKodardas Kalidas ShahSardar Ujjal Singh

Records

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  • Surjit Singh Barnala is the only appointed Governor to have served two terms in office (24 May 1990–15 February 1991 and 3 November 2004–31 August 2011).
  • The longest term in office was that of Surjit Singh Barnala who served as the Governor for a period of almost six and a half years (3 November 2004–31 August 2011).
  • The shortest term in office was that of M. M. Ismail who served as the acting Governor for a period of nine days (27 October 1980–4 November 1980).
  • The longest term in office as additional in-charge was that of C. Vidyasagar Rao for a period of 1 year 1 month and 4 days (2 September 2016– 6 October 2017).

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b The ordinal number of the term being served by the person specified in the row in the corresponding period
  2. ^ This term is a continuation of the Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur's first term. P. Chandra Reddy served as the acting Governor while Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur was on foreign tours.

References

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  1. ^ Tamil Nadu Secretariat — Brief History Archived 2007-01-06 at archive.today (Government of Tamil Nadu, 17 September 2008)
  2. ^ [Formerly the last Governor of the Madras Presidency.]
  3. ^ HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE P.CHANDRA REDDI Archived 2008-09-30 at the Wayback Machine (High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 20 September 2008)
  4. ^ The ordinal number of the term being served by the person specified in the row in the corresponding period
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