In the Republic of India, a lieutenant governor is the constitutional head of five of the eight union territories. The lieutenant governor is appointed by the President of India for a term of five years, and holds office at the President's pleasure. Since the union territories of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry have a measure of self-government with an elected legislature and council of ministers, the role of the lieutenant governor there is mostly a ceremonial one, akin to that of a state's governor. In Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Ladakh however, the lieutenant governor holds more power, being both the head of state and head of government.
The other three union territories—Chandigarh; Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu; and Lakshadweep—are governed by an administrator. Unlike the lieutenant governors of other territories, they are usually drawn from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) or Indian Police Service (IPS). Since 1985 the Governor of Punjab has also been the ex-officio Administrator of Chandigarh.
Chandrawati was the first woman to become the lieutenant governor of an Indian union territory, Kiran Bedi is the longest-serving female lieutenant governor with almost 5 years tenure. Tamilisai Soundararajan is the only woman to serve both as a lieutenant governor and governor.
As of 29 June 2024, no woman has served as the administrator of the three union territories. Till date all of the female lieutenant governors have been appointed only to Puducherry. Delhi, Andamans & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Ladakh doesn't have woman governor.
Chronological list Key Incumbent lieutenant governor No.PortraitName Home stateTerm of officeUnion territoryAppointed byRef.Assumed officeLeft officeTime in office1Chandrawati(1928–2020)Haryana19 February 199018 December 1990302 daysPuducherryR. Venkataraman2Rajendra Kumari Bajpai(1925–1999)Bihar2 May 199522 April 19982 years, 355 daysShanker Dayal Sharma3Rajani Rai(1931–2013)Maharashtra23 April 199829 July 20024 years, 97 daysK. R. Narayanan4Kiran Bedi( 1949)Punjab29 May 201616 February 20214 years, 263 daysPranab Mukherjee5Tamilisai Soundararajan( 1961)Tamil Nadu16 February 202118 March 20243 years, 31 daysRam Nath Kovind
See also List of female governors in India List of female chief ministers in India List of female deputy chief ministers in India List of female legislative speakers and chairpersons in India List of female opposition leaders in India List of female chief justices in India List of current Indian lieutenant governors and administrators
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