List of Governors of Indian States and Union Territories is one of the most common topics for the General Awareness section for various Government exams conducted in the country.
There are a total of 28 states and 8 Union Territories in India and each state has a Governor who is the chief executive head of that particular state and acts as a Central Government representative.
In this article, we bring to you the list of Governors of Indian States and the list of Lieutenant Governors of Indian Union Territories. Their role and responsibilities, powers, term and other facts have been discussed further below in this article.
List of Governors of India – Statewise
The table given below gives the state-wise list of Governors in India along with the dates on which they took over the position. Also the names of the first state Governor of Independent India have been mentioned in the list below:
| List of Current Governors in India | |||
| State | Current Governor | Took Over The Post On | First State Governor of Independent India |
| Andhra Pradesh | Shri Biswa Bhusan Harichandan | July 24, 2019 | Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi |
| Arunachal Pradesh | Brig. (Dr.) B. D. Mishra (Retd.) | October 3, 2017 | Bhishma Narain Singh |
| Assam | Prof. Jagdish Mukhi | October 1, 2017 | Sir Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari |
| Bihar | Shri Phagu Chauhan | July 29, 2019 | Jairamdas Daulatram |
| Chhattisgarh | Sushri Anusuiya Uikey | July 29, 2019 | D.N. Sahay |
| Goa | Shri Satya Pal Malik | November 3, 2019 | Major General K.P. Candeth |
| Gujarat | Shri Acharya Dev Vrat | July 22, 2019 | Mehdi Nawaz Jung |
| Haryana | Shri Satyadeo Narayan Arya | August 25, 2018 | Shri Dharma Vira |
| Himachal Pradesh | Shri Bandaru Dattatraya | September 11, 2019 | S. Chakravarti |
| Jharkhand | Shrimati Droupadi Murmu | May 18, 2015 | Prabhat Kumar |
| Karnataka | Shri Vajubhai Vala | September 1, 2014 | Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar |
| Kerala | Shri Arif Mohammed Khan | September 6, 2019 | Burgula Ramakrishna Rao |
| Madhya Pradesh | Shri Lal Ji Tandon | July 29, 2019 | Dr. Pattahbhi Sitaramayya |
| Maharashtra | Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari | September 5, 2019 | Raja Sir Maharaj Singh |
| Manipur | Dr. Najma Heptulla | August 21, 2016 | B. K. Nehru |
| Meghalaya | Shri Tathagata Roy | January 27, 2020 | Braj Kumar Nehru |
| Mizoram | Shri P.S. Sreedharan Pillai | November 5, 2019 | S.P. Mukherjee |
| Nagaland | Shri R. N. Ravi | August 1, 2019 | Vishnu Sahay |
| Odisha | Prof. Ganeshi Lal | May 29, 2018 | Dr. Kailash Nath Katju |
| Punjab | Shri V.P. Singh Badnore | August 22, 2016 | Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi |
| Rajasthan | Shri Kalraj Mishra | September 9, 2019 | Raj Pramukh Sawai Sh. Mansingh |
| Sikkim | Shri Ganga Prasad | August 26, 2018 | B.B. Lal |
| Tamil Nadu | Shri Banwarilal Purohit | October 6, 2017 | Maharaja Shri Sir Krishna Kumarsingji Bhavsingji |
| Telangana | Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan | September 8, 2019 | E.S.L. Narasimhan |
| Tripura | Shri Ramesh Bais | July 29, 2019 | B.K. Nehru |
| Uttar Pradesh | Smt. Anandiben Patel | July 29, 2019 | Sarojini Naidu |
| Uttarakhand | Smt. Baby Rani Maurya | August 26, 2018 | Surjit Singh Barnala |
| West Bengal | Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar | July 30, 2019 | Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari |
Aspirants must ensure that they prepare themselves thoroughly for the static GK part of the upcoming Government exams as the questions asked are indirect and candidates must be prepared for it.
List of Lieutenant Governors And Administrators for Union Territories
The post of Lieutenant Governors in a Union Territory is the same as that of a Governor in any State. The Lieutenant Governor is appointed by the President of India for a tenure of five years.
There are a total of 8 Union Territories in India and given below is the list of Lieutenant Governor and Administrators for these Union Territories along with the dates they took over the post:
| Lieutenant Governors And Administrators for Union Territories | ||
| Union Territory | Lieutenant Governor (LG)/ Administrator | Took Over the Post on |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | Admiral D.K. Joshi (LG) | October 8, 2017 |
| Chandigarh | Shri V.P. Singh Badnore (Administrator) | August 22, 2016 |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu | Shri Praful Patel (Administrator) | January 26, 2020 |
| The Government of NCT of Delhi | Shri Anil Baijal (LG) | December 31, 2016 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | Shri Girish Chandra Murmu (LG) | October 31, 2019 |
| Ladakh | Shri Radha Krishna Mathur (LG) | October 31, 2019 |
| Lakshadweep | Shri Dineshwar Sharma (Administrator) | November 3, 2019 |
| Puducherry | Dr. Kiran Bedi (LG) | May 29, 2016 |
Governor of India – Role And Responsibilities
Governor is the constitutional head of each state. Every action taken in a state is done in the name of the Governor by the executive power (Chief Minister) of that State.
Being the nominal head of the State, various responsibilities rest with the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor/Administrator. Given below are these responsibilities in brief:
- Legislative, Judicial, Executive and Financial powers are laid down for the Governor of a State
- They have the right to address, summon, differ and dissolve the State Legislatures
- In case of unforeseen circumstances, the Governor reserves the right to make advances from the State Contingency Fund
- The Chief Justice of a State High Court is elected with the consent of the State Governor
- If no political party wins the Lok Sabha election, Governor holds the right to elect the Chief Minister for their states
- In case of constitutional emergency, the President’s rule in a state is acted upon by the Governor
- He can disqualify any member from elections with the consent of the Election Commission
- State Legislators need to lay the state budget keeping the Governor’s opinion in consideration
The above mentioned points are few of the many responsibilities that a Governor and the Lieutenant Governor or Administrator needs to fulfill.
Governor/Lieutenant Governor/Administrator – Key Points
There are certain points that need to be know with respect to the state Governor, Lieutenant Governor or Administrator in India:
- They are appointed for a tenure of 5 years
- As per the Governor’s Act of 1982, the monthly salary of a Governor is Rs. 1,10,000/-
- The eligibility to become a Governor includes being a citizen of India, age above 35 years, must not hold any office of profit and he/she must not be a member of any state of union territory legislature
- The same Governor can be appointed for more than one state
- The Governor resides in the Raj Bhavan of the state during his/her tenure and is entitled to a fixed pension
- Sarojini Naidu was the first woman to become an Indian state Governor
These are the few pointers that are important with respect to the General Awareness section of the various Government exams.
Sample Questions for List of Governors in India
Given below are a few sample questions related to the list of Governors in India which may help aspirants analyse the type of questions that may be asked from this topic in the upcoming government exams.
Q 1. Who was the first woman Governor of an Indian state?
Q 2. Who appoints the Governor of a State?
Q 3. Which of the following is not a responsibility of the state Governor? (Here candidates will have to choose the answer from the given options)
Q 4. What is the minimum age for a person to be eligible to become the Governor of a state?
Q 5. Who took over the post of Governor in Uttar Pradesh after Shri Ram Naik? (This may be asked with respect to any other state/UT)
Q 6. Who was the first Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh?
Q 7. Which article of Indian Constitution provides for a Governor?
Q 8. Who has the authority to remove or replace the Governor of a State?
