List of governors of Tamil Nadu
| Governor of Tamil Nadu | |
|---|---|
| Tamiḻnāṭu Āḷunar | |
 | |
 | |
| Style | His Excellency |
| Status | Head of State |
| Reports to | President of India Government of India |
| Residence |
|
| Appointer | President of India |
| Term length | Five years Renewable |
| Inaugural holder | Archibald Edward Nye (1946–48) |
| Formation | 6 May 1946 |
| Salary | ₹350,000 (US$4,900) (per month) |
| Website | www |
The Governor of Tamil Nadu is the executive head of the state of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The governor have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the President of India at central level. They exist in the state appointed by the President of India for a term of 5 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 whereas they acts as the nominal head.
The current incumbent is R. N. Ravi since 18 September 2021.
Powers and functions[]
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[]
Madras Presidency and Madras State[]
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 Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.[1]
Tabular[]
| # | Name | Took Office | Left Office | Term[nb 1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Edward Nye[2] | 6 May 1946 | 7 September 1948 | 1 |
| 2 | Maharaja Sir Krishna Kumarasinhji Bhavsinhji | 7 September 1948 | 12 March 1952 | 1 |
| 3 | Sri Prakasa | 12 March 1952 | 10 December 1956 | 1 |
| 4 | A. J. John | 10 December 1956 | 30 September 1957 | 1 |
| - | Pakala Venkata Rajamannar (acting) | 1 October 1957 | 24 January 1958 | 1 |
| 5 | Bhishnuram Medhi | 24 January 1958 | 4 May 1964 | 1 |
| 6 | Maharaja Sir Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur | 4 May 1964 | 24 November 1964 | 1 |
| - | P. Chandra Reddy (acting)[3] | 24 November 1964 | 7 December 1965 | 1 |
| (6) | Maharaja Sir Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur[nb 2] | 7 December 1965 | 28 June 1966 | 1 |
| 7 | Sardar Ujjal Singh (acting till 16 June 1967) | 28 June 1966 | 14 January 1969 | 1 |
Graphical[]
Tamil Nadu[]
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.
- Tabular
| S.No | Portrait | Name (birth–death) |
Term of office[4] | Previous post | Appointed by | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Sardar Ujjal Singh (1895–1983) |
14 January 1969 | 25 May 1971 | 2 years, 131 days | Governor of Punjab | Zakir Hussain |
| 2 | 
|
Kodardas Kalidas Shah (1908–1986) |
26 May 1971 | 15 June 1976 | 5 years, 20 days | - | Varaha Venkata Giri |
| 3 | 
|
Mohan Lal Sukhadia (1916–1982) |
16 June 1976 | 8 April 1977 | 296 days | Governor of Andhra Pradesh | Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed |
| - |
|
P. Govindan Nair | 9 April 1977 | 26 April 1977 | 17 days | - | Basappa Danappa Jatti |
| 4 |
|
Prabhudas Patwari (1909–1985) |
27 April 1977 | 26 October 1980 | 3 years, 182 days | Indian Lawyer | |
| - |
|
M. M. Ismail (1921–2005) |
27 October 1980 | 3 November 1980 | 37 days | Chief Justice of Madras High Court | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
| 5 |
|
Sadiq Ali (1910–2001) |
4 November 1980 | 2 September 1982 | 1 year, 302 days | Governor of Maharashtra | |
| 6 |
|
Sundar Lal Khurana (1918–) |
3 September 1982 | 16 February 1988 | 5 years, 166 days | Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry | Giani Zail Singh |
| 7 |
|
P. C. Alexander (1921–2011) |
17 February 1988 | 23 May 1990 | 2 years, 95 days | I.A.S Officer | R. Venkataraman |
| 8 | 
|
Surjit Singh Barnala (1925–2017) |
24 May 1990 | 14 February 1991 | 266 days | Chief Minister of Punjab | |
| 9 |
|
Bhishma Narain Singh (1933–2018) |
15 February 1991 | 30 May 1993 | 2 years, 104 days | Governor of Assam | |
| 10 | 
|
Marri Chenna Reddy (1919–1996) |
31 May 1993 | 2 December 1996[†] | 3 years, 185 days | Governor of Rajasthan | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| - | 
|
Krishan Kant (additional charge)[5] (1927–2002) |
2 December 1996 | 24 January 1997 | 53 days | Governor of Andhra Pradesh | |
| 11 | 
|
M. Fathima Beevi (1927-) |
25 January 1997 | 2 July 2001 | 4 years, 158 days | Judge of the Supreme Court of India | |
| - | 
|
C. Rangarajan (additional charge) (1932-) |
3 July 2001 | 17 January 2002 | 198 days | Governor of the Reserve Bank of India | K. R. Narayanan |
| 12 |
|
P. S. Ramamohan Rao (1934-) |
18 January 2002 | 2 November 2004 | 2 years, 289 days | I.A.S Officer | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| (8) |
|
Surjit Singh Barnala (1925–2017) |
3 November 2004 | 30 August 2011 | 6 years, 300 days | Governor of Andhra Pradesh | |
| 13 | 
|
Konijeti Rosaiah (1933–) |
31 August 2011 | 1 September 2016 | 5 years, 1 day | Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh | Pratibha Patil |
| - | 
|
C. Vidyasagar Rao (additional charge) (1942–) |
2 September 2016 | 5 October 2017 | 1 year, 33 days | Governor of Maharashtra | Pranab Mukherjee |
| 14 | 
|
Banwarilal Purohit (1939–) |
6 October 2017 | 17 September 2021 | 3 years, 346 days | Governor of Assam | Ram Nath Kovind |
| 15 | 
|
R. N. Ravi (1952–) |
18 September 2021 | Incumbent | 4 days | Governor of Nagaland | |
- Graphical
Records[]
- 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[]
- Governors of India
- Governors of Madras
- History of Tamil Nadu
- List of Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu
Notes[]
References[]
- ^ Tamil Nadu Secretariat — Brief History Archived 2007-01-06 at archive.today (Government of Tamil Nadu, 17 September 2008)
- ^ [Formerly the last Governor of the Madras Presidency.]
- ^ HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE P.CHANDRA REDDI Archived 2008-09-30 at the Wayback Machine (High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 20 September 2008)
- ^ The ordinal number of the term being served by the person specified in the row in the corresponding period
- ^ Past Governors (Raj Bhavan, Chennai, 20 September 2008)
External links[]
- Governors of Tamil Nadu
- Lists of governors of Indian states
- Tamil Nadu politics-related lists