List of governors of Karnataka facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Governor of Karnataka
Emblem of Karnataka
Incumbent Thawar Chand Gehlot since 11 July 2021
Style	Hon’ble Governor (Within India (English) His/Her Excellency (Outside India) Rajyapaal Mahodaya
Residence	Raj Bhavan, Bengaluru
Appointer	President of India
Term length	At the pleasure of the President
Precursor	Governor of Mysore
Inaugural holder	Mohan Lal Sukhadia
Formation	1 November 1956 (68 years ago) (1956-11-01) (as Mysuru State) 1 November 1973 (51 years ago) (1973-11-01) (as Karnataka State)

The Governor of Karnataka is a very important leader in the Indian state of Karnataka. Think of them as the official head of the state, like a representative of the President of India. The President chooses the Governor, and the Governor serves as long as the President wishes.

Even though the Governor is officially in charge of the government of Karnataka, they usually follow the advice of the elected group of ministers, led by the Chief Minister of Karnataka. This means the Chief Minister and their team are the ones who actually make most of the day-to-day decisions. The Constitution of India also gives the Governor some special powers to make decisions on their own, like choosing or removing ministers, or suggesting special rules for the state. Sometimes, these special powers can lead to disagreements between the elected Chief Minister and the Governor, who is appointed by the central government.

Since 1956, many people have served as the Governor of Karnataka. The state was first known as Mysore before November 1, 1973. The very first Governor was Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar. Most of the Governors have been politicians or people who worked in government. Some Governors, like V. V. Giri and Gopal Swarup Pathak, later became important national leaders. Smt V. S. Ramadevi was the first and only woman Governor of Karnataka, serving from 1999 to 2002. She was also the first woman to be the Chief Election Commissioner in India.

Governors of Karnataka: A List

This is a list of the people who have served as the Governor of Karnataka over the years:

No.	Name (born – died)	Portrait	Home state	Time in Office			What they did before	Chosen by (President)
				From	To	How long they served
Governors 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
Governors 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, 338 days	Union Cabinet Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment	Ram Nath Kovind

Images for kids

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  Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, the first Governor of Mysore State.