List of governors of Karnataka

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

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]

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.

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

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

This is a list of governors of Karnataka:

No.	Name (born – died)	Portrait	Home state	Tenure in office			Immediate prior position held	Appointed by (President)
				From	To	Time in office
Governor 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
Governor 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, 161 days	Union Cabinet Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment	Ram Nath Kovind

• [1]
• Succession of Governors
• Karnataka Raj Bhavan Website