Post: | Governor |
Governor | |
Body: | Chhattisgarh |
Insignia: | Coat of arms of Chhattisgarh.svg |
Insigniacaption: | Emblem of Chhattisgarh |
Insigniasize: | 120 |
Incumbent: | Ramen Deka |
Incumbentsince: | 31 July 2024 |
Style: | His Excellency |
Residence: | Raj Bhavan |
Termlength: | Five Years |
Appointer: | President of India |
Inaugural: | D. N. Sahay |
The Governor of Chhattisgarh (Hindi: छत्तीसगढ़ के राज्यपाल) is the nominal head of state of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh and a representative of the president of India. The governor is appointed by the president for a term of five years. The official residence of the governor is Raj Bhavan.
The position of the governor of Chhattisgarh came into existence following the creation of the state in November 2000 as a result of the bifurcation of Madhya Pradesh. The first governor to be appointed was Dinesh Nandan Sahay who served in office between 2000 and 2003. The current governor is Remen Deka who has been in office since 31 July 2024.
The governor enjoys many different types of powers:
Apart from enjoying various constitutional powers, the governor of Chhattisgarh is the ex-officio Chancellor of the state universities of Chhattisgarh. The universities include Atal Bihari Vajpayee Vishwavidyalaya, Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Memorial Health Sciences and Ayush University of Chhattisgarh, Bastar Vishwavidyalaya, Chhattisgarh Kamdhenu Vishwavidyalaya, Hemchand Yadav Vishwavidyalaya, Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Sarguja University, etc.
The inaugural governor of Chhattisgarh was retired Indian Police Service officer and former Bihar DGP Dinesh Nandan Sahay who served in office since the state's creation in November 2000 until he swapped positions with then Governor of Tripura Lieutenant General Krishna Mohan Seth (retired) in June 2003. Seth served in office until retiring in January 2007 and was succeeded by former Intelligence Bureau director E. S. L. Narasimhan. Narasimhan served as the state's governor until being permanently transferred as Governor of Andhra Pradesh in January 2010, a position he was holding on additional basis since December 2009 following the resignation of N. D. Tiwari. Following the transfer of Narasimhan, former Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt was appointed as the governor and he remained in office until resigning in June 2014.
Following Dutt's resignation, Madhya Pradesh governor Ram Naresh Yadav briefly acted as the state's governor. He was relieved of the additional duties following the appointment of Balram Das Tandon the following month. Tandon remained the governor until his demise in office on 14 August 2018, thus becoming the first and only sitting governor of the state to die in office. He was succeeded by Madhya Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel on acting basis who served till July the next year and was succeeded by Anusuiya Uikey. Uikey served as the state's governor until February 2023 and was transferred as Governor of Manipur and was succeeded by Andhra Pradesh governor Biswabhusan Harichandan. Harichandan has since then being the governor of the state.