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 for a term of five years, 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. However, the governor must act on the advice of the popularly elected council of ministers, headed by the Chief Minister of Kerala, which thus holds de facto executive authority in the state. The Constitution of India also empowers the governor to act upon his or her own discretion, such as the ability to appoint or dismiss a ministry, recommend President's rule, or reserve bills for the President's assent. Over the years, the exercise of these discretionary powers have given rise to conflict between the elected chief minister and the central government–appointed governor.
Since 6 September 2019, Arif Mohammad Khan, is the Governor of Kerala.

Governors of Kerala

#NamePortraitTook OfficeLeft Office
1Burgula Ramakrishna Rao22 November 19561 July 1960
2V. V. Giri1 July 19602 April 1965
3Ajith Prasad Jain2 April 19656 February 1966
4Bhagwan Sahay6 February 196615 May 1967
5V. Viswanathan15 May 19671 April 1973
6N. N. Wanchoo1 April 197310 October 1977
7Jothi Venkatachalam14 October 197727 October 1982
8P. Ramachandran27 October 198223 February 1988
9Ram Dulari Sinha23 February 198812 February 1990
10Swaroop Singh12 February 199020 December 1990
11B. Rachaiah20 December 19909 November 1995
12P. Shiv Shankar12 November 19951 May 1996
13Khurshid Alam Khan5 May 199625 January 1997
14Sukhdev Singh Kang25 January 199718 April 2002
15Sikander Bakht18 April 200223 February 2004
—T. N. Chaturvedi 25 February 200423 June 2004
16R. L. Bhatia23 June 200410 July 2008
17R. S. Gavai11 July 20087 September 2011
18M. O. H. Farook8 September 201126 January 2012
—Hansraj Bhardwaj 26 January 201222 March 2013
19Nikhil Kumar23 March 20135 March 2014
20Sheila Dikshit5 March 201426 August 2014
21P Sathasivam5 September 20145 September 2019
22Arif Mohammad Khan6 September 2019Incumbent