GOVERNOR OF A STATE

● The Governor of a state is a constitutional post under Article 153 of the Indian Constitution.

● A Governor is the head of the state. He is the symbolic/nominal head of the state government, whereas the Chief Minister is the real head of state government.

● The Governor of a state is appointed by the President of India.

● The feature of appointment of a State Governor by the Union Government has been borrowed from the Constitution of Canada.

● The minimum age to be appointed as a Governor of a state is 35 years.

● The Tenure of a Governor is 5 years; but it is not fixed. He holds the office during the pleasure of the President. This means that they can be removed by the President at any time without assigning any reason.

● A person can be appointed Governor of more than one state simultaneously.

● A Governor can be transferred from one state to another by the President at any time.

● The Governor is affirmed the oath of office and secrecy by the ,Chief Justice of the State High Court.

● The Key role of the Governor is to protect, preserve and defend the law to Maintain the Stability of the State Government.

● A Governor can resign by submitting their resignation to the President.

● Sarojini Naidu was the First Woman Governor of a state (U.P State – 1947-1949).

● It is a convention that generally a person is not appointed as the Governor of his home state.

● The Governor of a state, under Article 161, has pardoning powers. He has the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law, but he cannot grant pardon to a person awarded death sentence (only our President can grant pardon to a person awarded the death sentence).

COMPARISON BETWEEN GOVERNORS & LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS

● Governors are appointed in states, whereas Lt. Governors are appointed in Union Territories. In our 28 states their heads are Governors while 5 out of 8 Union Territories are headed by Lt. Governors. (Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Puducherry and Andaman & Nicobar Islands are headed by Lt. Governors and Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, & Dadar and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu are headed by Administrators).

● Governors are the nominal/symbolic heads of the State whereas Lt. Governors are the real head of the Union Territories.

● The Governors have to act on the advice of State Cabinet headed by the Chief Ministers but no such constitutional provision is for Lt. Governors. Thus, it can be said that Lt. Governors and Administrators of Union Territories are more powerful than the Governors of States.

● Both the Governor and Lt. Governor are appointed by our President.

MISUSE / UNHEALTHY PRACTICES

● Our Constituent Assembly members wished that Scholars, Senior Bureaucrats, Administrators, Vice-Chancellors of Universities, Professors, etc should be appointed as Governors who will work impartially. However, in reality, senior party workers, politicians and close relatives of senior Politicians, are being appointed as Governors.

● Whenever there is a change in Union Government, the new Union Government replaces the previously appointed Governors.

● Governors are supposed to act impartially but they unfortunately act as an agent of the ruling party of the Union Government.

● Sarkaria Commission also recommended that active Politicians should not be appointed as Governors.

CURRENT EVENTS

The President of India, Mrs Draupadi Murmu was previously the Governor of Jharkhand. Similarly, our Vice President Sh. C.P. Radhakrishnan was the Governor of Maharashtra.

GOVERNORS MANAGING MULTIPLES STATES / UNION TERRITORIES

● Shri Gulab Chand Kataria is the Governor of Punjab as well as having additional charge as the Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

● Shri Prafulla Patel is the Administrator of Union Territory of Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu as well as having additional charge of Administrator of Lakshdweep.

● Shri Acharhya Dev Vrat is the Governor of Gujarat and he is having the additional change of Governor of Maharashtra.

● Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla is Governor of Manipur as well as having additional charge of Governor of Nagaland.

LIST OF SOME IMPORTANT GOVERNORS/Lt GOVERNORS