List of female Indian governors and lieutenant governors

In India, a governor is the constitutional head of each of the twenty-eight states. 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 state government; 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, who thus hold de facto executive authority at the state-level. 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 union government–appointed governor.[1] The union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Puducherry are headed by lieutenant governors.

Sarojini Naidu was the first female to become the governor of an Indian state.[2] She governed Uttar Pradesh from 15 August 1947 to 2 March 1949. Her daughter, Padmaja Naidu, is the longest-serving female governor with 11-year tenure in West Bengal.[3] Tamilisai Soundararajan is the recentmost appointment as the first female governor of Telangana.[4]

Governors
Key

*  incumbent governor

S. No. Name From To Term length State Ref.
1Sarojini Naidu15 August 19472 March 19491 year, 199 daysUttar Pradesh[5]
2Padmaja Naidu3 November 195631 May 196710 years, 209 daysWest Bengal[6]
3Vijayalakshmi Pandit28 November 196218 October 19641 year, 325 daysMaharashtra[7]
4Sharda Mukherjee5 May 197714 August 19781 year, 101 daysAndhra Pradesh[8]
14 August 19785 August 19834 years, 356 daysGujarat[9]
5Jothi Venkatachalam14 October 197727 October 19825 years, 13 daysKerala[10]
6Kumudben Joshi26 November 19852 February 19904 years, 68 daysAndhra Pradesh[11]
7Ram Dulari Sinha23 February 198812 February 19901 year, 354 daysKerala[10]
8Sarla Grewal31 March 19895 February 1990311 daysMadhya Pradesh[12]
9Sheila Kaul17 November 199523 April 1996158 daysHimachal Pradesh[13]
10Fathima Beevi25 January 19971 July 20014 years, 157 daysTamil Nadu[14]
11V. S. Ramadevi26 July 19971 December 19992 years, 128 daysHimachal Pradesh[13]
2 December 199920 August 20022 years, 261 daysKarnataka[15]
12Pratibha Patil8 November 200423 June 20072 years, 227 daysRajasthan[16]
13Prabha Rau19 July 200824 January 20101 year, 189 daysHimachal Pradesh[13]
25 January 201026 April 201091 daysRajasthan[17]
14Margaret Alva6 August 200914 May 20122 years, 262 daysUttarakhand[18]
12 May 20127 August 20142 years, 87 daysRajasthan[19]
15Kamla Beniwal27 November 20096 July 20144 years, 221 daysGujarat[20]
6 July 20146 August 201431 daysMizoram[21]
16Urmila Singh25 January 201027 January 20155 years, 2 daysHimachal Pradesh[22]
17Sheila Dikshit11 March 201425 August 2014167 daysKerala[23]
18Mridula Sinha31 August 20142 November 20195 years, 63 daysGoa[24]
19Draupadi Murmu*18 May 2015incumbent5 years, 89 daysJharkhand[25]
20Najma Heptulla* 21 August 2016incumbent3 years, 360 daysManipur[26]
21Anandiben Patel*
23 January 201828 July 20191 year, 186 daysMadhya Pradesh[27]
15 August 201828 July 2019347 daysChhattisgarh[28]
29 July 2019incumbent1 year, 17 daysUttar Pradesh[29]
22Baby Rani Maurya*26 August 2018incumbent1 year, 355 daysUttarakhand[30]
23Anusuiya Uikey*29 July 2019incumbent1 year, 17 daysChhattisgarh[31]
24Tamilisai Soundararajan*8 September 2019incumbent342 daysTelangana[32]

Lieutenant governors
Key

*  incumbent lieutenant governor

S. No. Name From To Term length Union territory Ref.
1Chandrawati19 February 199018 December 1990302 daysPuducherry[33]
2Rajendra Kumari Bajpai2 May 199522 April 19982 years, 355 daysPuducherry[33]
3Rajani Rai23 April 199829 July 20024 years, 97 daysPuducherry[33]
4Kiran Bedi*29 May 2016incumbent4 years, 78 daysPuducherry[34]

See also

References
  1. Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th edition, 2011 reprint. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. ISBN 978-81-8038-559-9. p. 237, 241–44.
  2. "Sarojini Naidu: The first woman to become the governor of an Indian state". CNN-IBN. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  3. Shubhojit (10 July 2014). "Women Governors in India". Elections.in. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  4. "President appoints five new governors including Tamilisai Soundararajan in Telangana". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  5. "Shrimati Sarojini Naidu, Governor of UP". National Informatics Centre, UP State Union. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  6. "Former Governors of West Bengal". West Bengal Government. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  7. "Previous Governors List of Maharashtra". Maharashtra Government. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  8. "Former Governors of Andhra Pradesh". Andhra Pradesh Government. Archived from the original on 5 April 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  9. "Sharda Mukherjee, Former Governor of Gujarat". Gujarat Government. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  10. "Kerala Legislature - Governors". Kerala Government. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  11. "Former Governors of AP". National Informatics Centre, AP State Union. Archived from the original on 5 April 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  12. "Sarla Grewal, Governor of Madhya Pradesh". NIC. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  13. "Former Governors of Himachal Pradesh". Himachal Pradesh Government. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  14. "Former Governors of Tamilnadu". Tamil Nadu Government. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  15. "Ramadevi, Governor of Karnataka". Karnataka Government. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  16. "Ex Governor of Rajasthan". Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Secretariat. Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  17. "President appoints Governors". Press Information Bureau, New Delhi Press release dated 16 January 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  18. "Margaret Alva, Governor of Uttarakhand". Uttarakhand Government. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  19. "Margaret Alva, Governor of Rajasthan". Rajasthan Government. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  20. "Kamla Beniwal, Governor of Gujarat". Gujarat Government. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  21. "The story behind Kamla Beniwal's dismissal". The Hindu. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  22. "Urmila Singh, Governor of Himachal Pradesh". Himachal Pradesh Government. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  23. Jain, Bharti (4 March 2014). "Sheila Dikshit, Governor of Kerala". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  24. Kamat, Prakash (31 August 2014). "Mridula Sinha sworn-in as Goa Governor". The Hindu.
  25. "Draupadi Murmu Sworn In as First Woman Governor of Jharkhand". NDTV. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  26. "Manipur: Najma Heptulla to be sworn-in as Governor on Sunday". Indian Express. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  27. "Anandiben Patel sworn in as Madhya Pradesh Governor". The Hindu. 23 January 2018.
  28. "Anandiben Patel, Governor of Chhattisgarh". Chhattisgarh Government. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  29. "Anandiben Patel Takes Oath As Uttar Pradesh Governor". NDTV. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  30. " Baby Rani Maurya sworn in as new Uttarakhand governor". The Economic Times. 26 August 2018.
  31. "Anusuiya Uikey takes oath as governor of Chhattisgarh". India Today. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  32. "Tamil Nadu BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan sworn in as second Telangana Governor". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  33. "Former Lieutenant Governors of Puducherry". Puducherry Government. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  34. "Kiran Bedi takes oath as Lt. Governor of Puducherry". The Times of India. 29 May 2016.
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