The governor of Tamil Nadu is the constitutional head of state of Tamil Nadu and the representative of the president of India in the state. In the state, the governor holds an important position in ensuring that the administration functions according to the constitution of India. They are appointed by the president and serve as the nominal executive authority of the state. The governor’s official residences are the Lok Bhavan, located in Chennai and Udhagamandalam. The governor performs various duties, such as giving assent to bills passed by the state legislative assembly, appointing the chief minister, and overseeing the constitutional functioning of the state government. Although the real executive power lies with the council of ministers headed by the chief minister, the governor plays a vital role in maintaining the constitutional framework and stability of the state administration.Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th edition, 2011 reprint. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. . p. 237, 241–44. Note: although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Tamil Nadu as well.
The current incumbent is Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, who has been serving as an additional charge since 12 March 2026.
Qualifications Article 157 and Article 158 of the Constitution of India specify eligibility requirements for the post of governor. They are as follows:
A governor: must be at least 35 years of age. should not be a member of either the houses of the parliament or the house of the state legislature. should not hold any office of profit. Traditionally, governors are not appointed to lead the states where they reside, although this is not stipulated in the constitution.
Powers and functions
The governor has: Executive powers related to administration, appointments and removals Legislative powers related to lawmaking and the state legislative assembly and Discretionary powers are to be carried out according to the discretion of the Governor.
In his ex-officio capacity, the governor of Tamil Nadu is chancellor of the universities of Tamil Nadu as per the Acts of the Universities.
List Key Resigned Died in office
Transferred +Governors of Madras Province#PortraitName Home stateTenure in officeAppointed byTook officeLeft officeTime in office1Archibald Nye(1895–1967)Not applicable15 August 19476 September 19481 year, 22 daysLord Mountbatten2Krishna Kumarsinhji Bhavsinhji(1912–1965)Gujarat7 September 194825 January 19501 year, 140 daysC. Rajagopalachari
Development after independence Madras State was a state in the Indian Republic, which was in existence during the mid-20th century as a successor to the Madras Province of British India. The state came into existence on 26 January 1950 when the Constitution of India was adopted and included the present-day Tamil Nadu and parts of neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala till 1 November 1956, when the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 came into effect.
+Governors of Madras State#PortraitName Home stateTenure officeAppointed byTook officeLeft officeTime in office1Krishna Kumarsinhji Bhavsinhji(1912–1965)Gujarat26 January 195011 March 19522 years, 45 daysC. Rajagopalachari2Sri Prakasa(1890–1971)Uttar Pradesh12 March 19529 December 19564 years, 272 daysRajendra Prasad3A. J. John(1893–1957)Keralam10 December 195630 September 1957294 days–P. V. Rajamannar(1901–1979)(Acting)Tamil Nadu1 October 195724 January 1958115 days4Bishnu Ram Medhi(1888–1981)Assam24 January 19583 May 19646 years, 100 days5Jaya Chamaraja Wadiyar(1919–1974)Karnataka4 May 196423 November 1964203 daysSarvepalli Radhakrishnan–P. Chandra Reddy(1904–1976)(Acting)Andhra Pradesh24 November 19647 February 196575 days(5)Jaya Chamaraja Wadiyar(1919–1974)Karnataka8 February 196514 August 1965187 days–P. Chandra Reddy(1904–1976)(Acting)Andhra Pradesh13 August 196519 September 196537 days(5)Jaya Chamaraja Wadiyar(1919–1974)Karnataka20 September 19653 January 1966105 days–P. Chandra Reddy(1904–1976)(Acting)Andhra Pradesh4 January 196627 June 1966174 days6Ujjal Singh(1895–1983)Punjab28 June 196616 June 19672 years, 199 days17 June 196713 January 1969Zakir Husain
Change in nomenclature On 18 July 1967, the state legislative assembly unanimously adopted a resolution recommending that the state government take the necessary steps to secure an amendment to the Constitution of India aimed at changing the name of Madras State to Tamil Nadu. Consequently, the Madras State (Alteration of Name) Act, 1968 (Central Act 53 of 1968), was enacted by the Parliament of India and came into effect on 14 January 1969.
Governors of Tamil Nadu (1969present) Portrait Name(borndied) Home state Tenure in office Appointer(President) From To Time in office1 Ujjal SinghPunjab 1969 1971 2 years, 131 days Zakir Hussain 2 Kodardas Kalidas Shah Gujarat 1971 1976 V. V. Giri 3 Mohan Lal Sukhadia Rajasthan 1976 1977 Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 4 P. Govindan Nair Kerala 1977 1977 B. D. Jatti 5 Prabhudas Patwari Gujarat 1977 1980 6 M. M. Ismail Tamil Nadu 1980 1980 Neelam Sanjiva Reddy 7 Sadiq Ali Rajasthan 1980 1982 8 Sundar Lal Khurana Delhi 1982 1988 Zail Singh 9 P. C. Alexander Kerala 1988 1990 Ramaswamy Venkataraman 10 Surjit Singh Barnala Punjab 1990 1991 11 Bhishma Narain Singh Bihar 1991 1993 12 Marri Chenna Reddy Andhra Pradesh 1993 1996 Shankar Dayal Sharma 13 Krishan Kant Punjab 1996 1997 14 M. Fathima Beevi Kerala 1997 2001 15 C. Rangarajan Tamil Nadu 2001 2002 K. R. Narayanan 16 P. S. Ramamohan Rao Andhra Pradesh 2002 2004 17 Surjit Singh Barnala Punjab 2004 2011 A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 18 Konijeti Rosaiah Andhra Pradesh 2011 2016 Pratibha Patil 19 C. Vidyasagar Rao Telangana 2016 2017 Pranab Mukherjee 20 Banwarilal Purohit Maharashtra 2017 2021 Ram Nath Kovind 21 R. N. Ravi Bihar 2021 2026 22Rajendra ArlekarGoa2026IncumbentDroupadi Murmu
See also History of Tamil Nadu Politics of Tamil Nadu Lok Bhavan, Chennai Elections in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu List of current Indian governors Lok Bhavan, Udhagamandalam Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly List of leaders of the house in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Oath "enum naan, iraivan peril aanaiyittu, Tamil Naattu aalunar padhaviyai pramaanikkamaaga aatruven endrum, enadhu aatral muzhumaikkum arasiyalamaippaiyum sattathaiyum peni paadhugaathu aran seiven endrum, Tamil Naattu makkalin thondirkum nalvaazhvirkum ennai arppanithukolven endrum urudhi koorugiren." References
External links Official website of the Governor of Tamil Nadu