List of governors of Kerala

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]

Governor of Kerala
Emblem of Kerala
Incumbent Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar since 2 January 2025 (2025-01-02)
Style	The Honourable, His Excellency
Residence	Raj Bhavan, Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram
Appointer	President of India
Term length	At the pleasure of the President
Formation	1 November 1956; 68 years ago (1956-11-01)
Website	www.rajbhavan.kerala.gov.in

Since 2 January 2025, Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, is the 28th governor of Kerala.

Maharajas and Maharanis of the Travancore

	Image	Name	Reign
		Rama Varma I	1663–1672
		Aditya Varma I	1672–1677
		Umayamma Rani[2]	1677–1684 (Regent Queen)
		Ravi Varma	1684–1718
		Aditya Varma II	1718–1719
		Unni Kerala Varma	1719–1724
		Rama Varma II	1724–1729
		Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma I	1729–1758
		Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma I (Dharma Raja)	1758–1798
		Avittom Thirunal Balarama Varma I	1798–1810
		Ayilyom Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi	1810–1813 (Queen Regnant) 1813–1815 (Regent Queen)
		Uthrittathi Thirunal Gowri Parvati Bayi	1815–1829 (Regent Queen)
		Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma II	1829–1846
		Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma II	1846–1860
		Ayilyam Thirunal Rama Varma III	1860–1880
		Visakham Thirunal Rama Varma IV	1880–1885
		Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma V	1885–1924
		Pooradam Thirunal Sethu Lakshmi Bayi	1924–1931 (Regent Queen)
		Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma II	1931–1956

Governors of Kerala

#	Name	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Duration	Home State	Appointed by
_	P. S. Rao		1 November 1956	21 November 1956	20 days	Not Known	Rajendra Prasad
1.	Burgula Ramakrishna Rao		22 November 1956	1 July 1960	3 years, 222 days	Andhra Pradesh
2.	V. V. Giri		1 July 1960	2 April 1965	4 years, 275 days	Odisha
3.	Ajith Prasad Jain		2 April 1965	6 February 1966	310 days	Uttar Pradesh	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
4.	Bhagwan Sahay		6 February 1966	15 May 1967	1 year, 98 days
5.	V. Viswanathan		15 May 1967	1 April 1973	5 years, 321 days	Kerala	Zakir Husain
6.	N. N. Wanchoo		1 April 1973	10 October 1977	4 years, 192 days	Madhya Pradesh	V. V. Giri
7.	Jothi Venkatachalam		14 October 1977	27 October 1982	5 years, 13 days	Tamil Nadu	Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
8.	P. Ramachandran		27 October 1982	23 February 1988	5 years, 119 days		Zail Singh
9.	Ram Dulari Sinha		23 February 1988	12 February 1990	1 year, 354 days	Bihar	R. Venkataraman
10.	Sarup Singh		12 February 1990	20 December 1990	311 days	Haryana
11.	B. Rachaiah		20 December 1990	9 November 1995	4 years, 324 days	Karnataka
_	Gopal Ramanujam		20 April 1995	29 April 1995	9 days	Tamil Nadu	Shankar Dayal Sharma
12.	P. Shiv Shankar		12 November 1995	1 May 1996	171 days	Andhra Pradesh
13.	Khurshid Alam Khan		5 May 1996	25 January 1997	265 days	Uttar Pradesh
14.	Justice Sukhdev Singh Kang		25 January 1997	29 February 2000	3 years, 35 days	Punjab
_	C. Rangarajan		29 February 2000	23 April 2000	54 days	Tamil Nadu	K. R. Narayan
(14).	Justice Sukhdev Singh Kang		23 April 2000	19 October 2000	179 days	Punjab
_	C. Rangarajan		19 October 2000	7 November 2000	19 days	Tamil Nadu
(14).	Justice Sukhdev Singh Kang		7 November 2000	14 September 2001	311 days	Punjab
—	Mohammed Fazal		14 September 2001	28 September 2001	14 days	Uttar Pradesh
(14).	Justice Sukhdev Singh Kang		28 September 2001	16 February 2002	141 days	Punjab
_	C. Rangarajan		16 February 2002	28 February 2002	12 days	Tamil Nadu
(14).	Justice Sukhdev Singh Kang		28 February 2002	18 April 2002	49 days	Punjab
15.	Sikander Bakht		18 April 2002	23 February 2004	1 year, 311 days	Delhi
_	T. N. Chaturvedi[a]		25 February 2004	23 June 2004	119 days	Uttar Pradesh	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
16.	R. L. Bhatia		23 June 2004	10 July 2008	4 years, 17 days	Punjab
17.	R. S. Gavai		11 July 2008	7 September 2011	3 years, 58 days	Maharashtra	Pratibha Patil
18.	M. O. H. Farook		8 September 2011	26 January 2012	140 days	Puducherry
—	Hansraj Bhardwaj		26 January 2012	22 March 2013	1 year, 55 days	Haryana
19.	Nikhil Kumar		23 March 2013	5 March 2014	347 days	Bihar	Pranab Mukherjee
20.	Sheila Dikshit		5 March 2014	5 September 2014	184 days	Delhi
21.	P. Sathasivam		5 September 2014	5 September 2019	5 years, 0 days	Tamil Nadu
22.	Arif Mohammad Khan		6 September 2019	1 January 2025	5 years, 117 days	Uttar Pradesh	Ramnath Kovind
23.	Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar		2 January 2025	Incumbent	126 days	Goa	Droupadi Murmu

See also

• Kerala
• Governors of India
• Chief Minister of Kerala

External links

• Governors of Kerala

Notes

1. Interim after the death of Sikander Bakht