Governor of Karnataka ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ರಾಜ್ಯಪಾಲರು
Karnāṭakada Rājyapālaru
Emblem of Karnataka
Incumbent Thawar Chand Gehlot since 11 July 2021
Style	The Honourable, His Excellency
Residence	Raj Bhavan, Bengaluru
Appointer	President of India
Term length	Five years
Precursor	Governor of Mysore
Inaugural holder	Mohan Lal Sukhadia
Formation	1 November 1973 (1973-11-01)(as Karnataka State)
Website	www.rajbhavan.kar.nic.in

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 for a term of five years, 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]

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.

Maharaja of Mysore

No	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Duration	Selected former office(s)
1		Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar	15 August 1947	25 January 1950	2 years, 163 days	Yuvaraja of Mysore

RajPramukh of Mysore

No	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Duration	Selected former office(s)
1		Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar	26 January 1950	31 October 1956	6 years, 279 days	Maharaja of Mysore

Governors of Mysore

No	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Home State	Duration	Selected former office(s)
1		Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar	1 November 1956	4 May 1964	Karnataka	7 years, 185 days	Maharaja of Mysore, Rajpramukh of Mysore
2		S. M. Shrinagesh	4 May 1964	2 April 1965	Maharashtra	333 days	Chief of the Army Staff
3		V. V. Giri	2 April 1965	13 May 1967	Odisha	2 years, 41 days	Fourth President of India
4		Gopal Swarup Pathak	13 May 1967	30 August 1969	Uttar Pradesh	2 years, 109 days	Fourth Vice-President of India
-	–	Justice Somanath Iyer (Acting)	30 August 1969	23 October 1969	-	54 days	Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court
5		Dharma Vira	23 October 1970	1 February 1972	Uttar Pradesh	1 year, 101 days	Governor of Punjab, Haryana, and West Bengal
6		Mohanlal Sukhadia	1 February 1972	31 October 1973	Rajasthan	4 years, 273 days	Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Governor of United Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu

Governors of Karnataka

No	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Home State	Duration	Selected former office(s)
1		Mohanlal Sukhadia	1 November 1973	10 January 1976	Rajasthan	3 years, 343 days	Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Governor of United Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu and Mysore state
2	–	Uma Shankar Dikshit	10 January 1976	2 August 1977	Uttar Pradesh	1 year, 204 days	Governor of West Bengal and the Minister of Home Affairs
3		Govind Narain	2 August 1977	15 April 1982	Uttar Pradesh	4 years, 256 days	First and the only member of the Imperial Civil Service to have been appointed and served as Governor of Karnataka
4	–	Ashoknath Banerji	16 April 1982	25 February 1987	West Bengal	4 years, 315 days	First member of the Indian Administrative Service to have served in this office
5	–	Pendekanti Venkatasubbaiah	26 February 1987	5 February 1990	Andhra Pradesh	2 years, 344 days	Governor of Bihar, Minister of Home and Parliamentary Affairs
-	–	S. Mohan (Acting)	5 February 1990	8 May 1990	Tamil Nadu	92 days	Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, Judge of the Supreme Court of India
6	–	Bhanu Pratap Singh	8 May 1990	6 January 1992	Uttar Pradesh	1 year, 243 days	Governor of Goa
7		Khurshed Alam Khan	6 January 1992	2 December 1999	Uttar Pradesh	7 years, 330 days	Member of Parliament, Governor of Goa
8		V. S. Ramadevi	2 December 1999	20 August 2002	Andhra Pradesh	2 years, 261 days	Chief Election Commissioner of India, Secretary General of Rajya Sabha, Governor of Himachal Pradesh, the first and only female governor of Karnataka
9		T. N. Chaturvedi	21 August 2002	20 August 2007	Uttar Pradesh	4 years, 364 days	Comptroller and Auditor General of India
10		Rameshwar Thakur	21 August 2007	24 June 2009	Jharkhand	1 year, 307 days	Governor of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, & Rajasthan (Additional charge)
11		Hansraj Bhardwaj	24 June 2009	29 June 2014	Punjab	5 years, 5 days	Union Minister of Law and Justice, Governor of Kerala
-	(additional charge)	Konijeti Rosaiah	29 June 2014	31 August 2014	Andhra Pradesh	63 days	Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Governor of Tamil Nadu
12		Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala	1 September 2014	10 July 2021	Gujarat	6 years, 312 days	Speaker of Gujarat Vidhan Sabha
13		Thawar Chand Gehlot	11 July 2021[2]	Incumbent	Madhya Pradesh	2 years, 181 days	Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha

Chief ministers of Karnataka under governors

References

External links

• Succession of Governors
• Karnataka Raj Bhavan Website