List of governors of Karnataka

The governor of Karnataka, formerly governor of Mysore, is the constitutional head of the Indian state of Karnataka. 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 Karnataka; 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 Karnataka, 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.^[1]

Governor of Karnataka
Karnāṭakada Rājyapālaru
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
Status	Head of state
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)
Website	www.rajbhavan.kar.nic.in

Since 1956, eighteen people have served as the governor of Mysore (as the state was known before 1 November 1973) and Karnataka. The first was Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, who was the state's Rajpramukh from 1950 to 1956. A majority of Karnataka's governors have been politicians (ten), another five have been civil servants. V. V. Giri went on become the fourth president of India, and Gopal Swarup Pathak the country's fourth vice president. Smt V. S. Ramadevi was the first and only woman governor of Karnataka (1999–2002) and also holds the record of first woman chief election commissioner in india.

List

Legend

• ^† Died in office
• ^§ Transferred
• ^‡ Resigned/removed

Color key

•    indicates acting/additional charge

Governor of Mysore State (1956–1973)

#	Portrait	Name (born – died)	Home state	Tenure in office			Appointer (President)
				From	To	Time in office
1		Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar (1919–1974)	Mysore State	1 November 1956	4 May 1964[§][α]	7 years, 185 days	Rajendra Prasad
2		General S. M. Shrinagesh (Retd) (1903–1977)	Maharashtra	4 May 1964	2 April 1965	333 days	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
3		V. V. Giri (1894–1980)	Madras	2 April 1965	12 May 1967[‡][β]	2 years, 40 days
4		Gopal Swarup Pathak (1896–1982)	Uttar Pradesh	13 May 1967	30 August 1969[‡][β]	2 years, 109 days	Zakir Husain
–		Justice A. R. Somanath Iyer Chief Justice, Mysore High Court (Acting)	Mysore State	31 August 1969	23 October 1969	53 days	V. V. Giri
5		Dharma Vira ICS (Retd) (1906–2000)	Uttar Pradesh	23 October 1969	1 February 1972	2 years, 101 days
6		Mohan Lal Sukhadia (1916–1982)	Rajasthan	1 February 1972	31 October 1973	1 year, 272 days

1. Transferred as the Governor of Madras State
2. Resigned to become the Vice President of India

Governor of Karnataka (1973–present)

#	Portrait	Name (born – died)	Home state	Tenure in office			Appointer (President)
				From	To	Time in office
1		Mohan Lal Sukhadia (1916–1982)	Rajasthan	1 November 1973	10 January 1976[§][α]	2 years, 70 days	V. V. Giri
2		Uma Shankar Dikshit (1901–1991)	Uttar Pradesh	10 January 1976	2 August 1977[‡]	1 year, 204 days	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
3		Govind Narain ICS (Retd) (1916–2012)	Uttar Pradesh	2 August 1977	15 April 1983	5 years, 256 days	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
4		Ashoknath Banerji IAS (Retd) (1929–2006)	West Bengal	16 April 1983	25 February 1988	4 years, 315 days	Zail Singh
5		Pendekanti Venkatasubbaiah (1921–1983)	Andhra Pradesh	26 February 1988	5 February 1990[‡]	1 year, 344 days	Ramaswamy Venkataraman
–		Justice Shanmughasundaram Mohan (1930–2019) Chief Justice, Karnataka High Court (Acting)	Tamil Nadu	5 February 1990	8 May 1990	92 days
6		Bhanu Pratap Singh (1917–?)	Uttar Pradesh	8 May 1990	6 January 1991[‡]	243 days
–		Khurshed Alam Khan (1919–2013) Governor of Goa until 17 March 1991	Uttar Pradesh	6 January 1991	17 March 1991	8 years, 330 days
7				17 March 1991	2 December 1999
8		V. S. Ramadevi IAS (Retd) (1934–2013)	Andhra Pradesh	2 December 1999	20 February 2002	2 years, 80 days	K. R. Narayanan
9		T. N. Chaturvedi IAS (Retd) (1928–2020)	Uttar Pradesh	21 August 2002	20 August 2007	4 years, 364 days
10		Rameshwar Thakur (1925–2015)	Jharkhand	21 August 2007	29 June 2009[§][β]	1 year, 312 days	Pratibha Patil
11		H. R. Bhardwaj (1939–2020)	Punjab	30 June 2009	28 June 2014	4 years, 363 days
–		Konijeti Rosaiah (1933–2021) Governor of Tamil Nadu (Additional Charge)	Andhra Pradesh	29 June 2014	31 August 2014	63 days	Pranab Mukherjee
12		Vajubhai Vala (born 1937)	Gujarat	1 September 2014	10 July 2021	6 years, 312 days
13		Thawar Chand Gehlot (born 1948)	Madhya Pradesh	11 July 2021	Incumbent	4 years, 36 days	Ram Nath Kovind

1. Transferred as the Governor of Tamil Nadu
2. Transferred as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh