Governor of Uttaranchal
| Governor of Uttaranchal | |
|---|---|
| उत्तरांचल के राज्यपाल (Hindi) | |
 | |
| Style | His/Her Excellency |
| Reports to | Rashtradhyaksh Prime Minister of Vishwamitra |
| Appointer | Rashtradhyaksh on the advice of the union council of ministers and the privy council |
| Term length | At His Illustrious and Royal Majesty's pleasure |
| Constituting instrument | Governorship Act, 2023 |
| Formation | 18 September 2016 (first creation) 17 March 2023 (second creation) |
| First holder | Saikat Seal (first creation) Reshmi Hazarika (second creation) |
The Governor of Uttaranchal (Hindi: उत्तरांचल के राज्यपाल) is the vice-regal representative of the Rashtradhyaksh, the federal ruler and the union government in the state and the ceremonial deputy head of state of the state of Uttaranchal who serves as the deputy to the Rajpramukh of Uttaranchal, the hereditary executive ruler of the state. The governor is responsible for assisting the Rajpramukh and the state government in the discharge of the administrative and other functions. The governor is also eligible to act as the head of state in the case of the absence of the Rajpramukh.
The position of the governor first came into existence in 2016 after the creation of the state of North Guwahati. At the time of the first creation, the governor served as the head of state and was responsible for the entire administration of the state. Following Vishwamitra's transition to a monarchy in 2020, the responsibilities rendered by the state governors were transferred to the hereditary rulers known as Rajpramukhs.
In March 2023, the Governorship Bill, 2023 was tabled in the Lok Sabha by Deputy Prime Minister and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Arthur Lacey-Scott-FitzLacia and was subsequently passed by the parliament. The bill received royal assent on 17 March 2023 and thus became an act. Soon after receiving assent, following the provisions laid in the act, the governors of the states were appointed.
History
First creation (2016–2020)
The first instance of the creation of governors of states can be traced to September 2016 when the position was created in the state after the state's establishment. The administration of the state was placed under a presidential nominee, the governor who was designated as the head of state and de jure executive while the chief minister was the de facto executive and the head of the government.
Saikat Seal was appointed to serve as the first governor on 18 September 2016. He remained in office until resigning from the position after being appointed as the Chief Minister of Greater Guwahati on 1 January 2017 and was succeeded by his elder brother, the Governor of Greater Guwahati Arnab Sil on temporary basis who was assigned the additional charge of the governor of the state.
On 2 February 2020, the role of the governor was replaced by the Governor-General who became the head of the dominion of Purvanchal. Prior to the appointment of the governor-general, all the governors who were appointed were non-local to the state. The position of governor was re-introduced in May 2020. The position remained in use till its abolition on 8 June 2020 following Vishwamitra's transition to a monarchy. The duties of the governor were transferred to the Rajpramukh of Uttaranchal, who is the hereditary executive monarch of the state.
Second creation (2023–present)
The position of the governor came into existence for the second time in 2023 after the passage of the Governorship Act, 2023 by the Lok Sabha and its receiving royal assent on 17 March 2023. Under the provisions of the act, the governors are to be the vice-regal representative of the Rashtradhyaksh and shall serve as deputy to the hereditary state rulers and act as head of state whenever needed. Reshmi Hazarika, who also holds the record of serving as the longest-serving governor in the nation and that of the longest-serving governor of Uttaranchal during the previous creation was appointed to serve as the first governor after the position's re-introduction on 17 March 2023.
Functions and role
The governor served as the head of state of Uttaranchal between 2016 and 2020 having control over large range of responsibilities in the governance of the state. The functions of the governor included:
- discharging the day-to-day affairs of the state.
- maintain law and order and general administration of the state.
- communicate and brief the President about activities in the state.
- appoint the chief minister and other officials upon approval of the President.
Following the re-introduction of the position in March 2023, the functions of the governor have been reduced to largely ceremonial ones. The governor, being the vice-regal representative of the Rashtradhyaksh, shares their duties and functions with the Rajpramukh and performs the functions whenever needed as asked by the Rashtradhyaksh. The principal duty rendered by the governor is to act as a bridge in the communication between the state government and the central government and to relay information to the central government and to convey information from the central government to that of the state.
List of office-holders
Governor of North Guwahati (2016–2017) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Portrait | Name (born–died) |
Home state | Term start | Term end | Term length | President | Prime Minister | |
| 1 | 
|
His Excellency Saikat Seal (born 2006) |
North Guwahati | 18 September 2017 |
1 January 2017 |
105 days | Tanishkaa Patranabish | Varuna Sriraya | |
| Anoushkaa Patranabish | |||||||||
| Klarissa Sriraya (Acting) | |||||||||
| Arnab Sil, the Governor of Greater Guwahati held additional charge from 2 January 2017 until 25 February 2017. | |||||||||
| 2 | .svg)
|
His Excellency Subhajit Kar (born 2001) |
Central Guwahati | 25 February 2017 |
12 April 2017 |
46 days | Klarissa Sriraya | Varuna Sriraya | |
| 3 | 
|
Her Excellency Asmi Patranabis (born 2007) |
South Guwahati | 12 April 2017 |
7 May 2017 |
25 days | Varuna Sriraya | Klarissa Sriraya | |
Governor of Uttar Guwahati (2017–2019) | |||||||||
| No. | Portrait | Name (born–died) |
Home state | Term start | Term end | Term length | President | Prime Minister | |
| 3 |
|
Her Excellency Asmi Patranabis (born 2007) |
South Guwahati | 7 May 2017 |
5 July 2017 |
59 days | Varuna Sriraya | Klarissa Sriraya | |
| 4 |
|
His Excellency Kalyan Dey (born 2001) |
Brihattar Guwahati | 5 July 2017 |
16 July 2017 |
11 days | Tanishkaa Patranabish | ||
| Reshmi Hazarika, the Governor of Beltola served as Acting Governor from 16 July 2017 until 31 July 2017. | |||||||||
| (4) |
|
His Excellency Kalyan Dey (born 2001) |
Brihattar Guwahati | 1 August 2017 |
6 September 2017 |
36 days | Varuna Sriraya | Tanishkaa Patranabish | |
| Rajdeep Deka, the Governor of Madhya Guwahati held additional charge from 6 September 2017 until 17 September 2017. | |||||||||
| 5 |
|
His Excellency Bhargab Jyoti Medhi (born 2001) |
Brihattar Guwahati | 17 September 2017 |
25 December 2017 |
99 days | Varuna Sriraya | Tanishkaa Patranabish | |
| Reshmi Hazarika, the Governor of Beltola held additional charge from 25 December 2017 until 23 April 2018. | |||||||||
| 6 | .svg)
|
Her Excellency Reshmi Hazarika (born 2003) |
Basistha | 23 April 2018 |
4 February 2019 |
287 days | Anoushkaa Patranabish | Varuna Sriraya | |
| Varuna Sriraya | Tanishkaa Patranabish | ||||||||
| Vacant | |||||||||
| Tanishkaa Patranabish | |||||||||
| 7 |
|
Her Excellency Sanghita Roy (born 2003) |
Madhya Guwahati | 4 February 2019 |
15 June 2019 |
131 days | |||
| 8 |
|
His Excellency Ankurjyoti Thakuria (born 2002) |
Kamrup Pradesh | 15 June 2019 |
20 July 2019 |
35 days | |||
| (6) |
|
Her Excellency Reshmi Hazarika (born 2003) |
Basistha | 20 July 2019 |
29 July 2019 |
9 days | |||
Governor of Uttaranchal (2019–2020) | |||||||||
| No. | Portrait | Name (born–died) |
Home state | Term start | Term end | Term length | President | Prime Minister | |
| (6) |
|
Her Excellency Reshmi Hazarika (born 2003) |
Basistha | 29 July 2019 |
4 September 2019 |
37 days | Varuna Sriraya | Tanishkaa Patranabish | |
| (5) |
|
His Excellency Bhargab Jyoti Medhi (born 2001) |
Purvanchal | 4 September 2019 |
4 October 2019 |
30 days | |||
| 7 |
|
Her Excellency Sampriti Paul (born 2003) |
4 October 2019 |
2 February 2020 |
121 days | ||||
Governor-General of Uttaranchal (2020) | |||||||||
| No. | Portrait | Name (born–died) |
Home state | Term start | Term end | Term length | President | Prime Minister | |
| 1 |
|
Her Excellency Reshmi Hazarika (born 2003) |
Basistha | 2 February 2020 |
13 May 2020 |
101 days | Varuna Sriraya | Tanishkaa Patranabish | |
| Anoushkaa Patranabish | |||||||||
| Tanishkaa Patranabish | |||||||||
| Tanishkaa Patranabish | Position vacant | ||||||||
Governor of Uttaranchal (2020) | |||||||||
| No. | Portrait | Name (born–died) |
Home state | Term start | Term end | Term length | President | Prime Minister | |
| (1) |
|
His Excellency Saikat Seal (born 2006) |
Purvanchal | 13 May 2020 |
7 June 2020 |
25 days | Tanishkaa Patranabish | Position vacant | |
| Position abolished on 8 June 2020 | |||||||||
Governor of Uttaranchal (2023–present) | |||||||||
| No. | Portrait | Name (born–died) |
Home state | Term start | Term end | Term length | Monarch | Prime Minister | |
| 1 |
|
Her Excellency Tan Sri Datin Sri Utama Reshmi Hazarika (born 2003) |
Basistha | 17 March 2023 |
5 November 2023 |
233 days | Varuna Sriraya | Farhaz Hazarika | |
| 2 | 
|
Her Serene Highness Datin Sri Utama Princess Tanvi Sridasa (born 2013) |
Purvanchal | 5 November 2023 |
29 March 2024 |
145 days | |||
| Position vacant during the interval | |||||||||
| 3 |
|
His Excellency Maha Sri Shrestha Ankurjyoti Thakuria (born 2002) |
Kamrupa | 28 July 2024 |
Incumbent | 143 days | Varuna Sriraya | Klarissa Sriraya | |
Trivia
- Saikat Seal was the first office-holder of the position of the Governor of the state and served in office on two occasions.
- Reshmi Hazarika, the current governor is the longest-serving governor of the state and the only person to have served as the state's governor for more than three occasions (including the additional terms).
- Arnab Sil, Rajdeep Deka, and Reshmi Hazarika served as caretaker governors of the state.
- Among the governors who served on temporary basis, Arnab Sil holds the record of serving in office for the longest tenure with 54 days in office.
- Asmi Patranabis was the first female governor of the state. Three others, Reshmi Hazarika, Sanghita Roy and Sampriti Paul, had served as the state's governors.
- Subhajit Kar is the only individual appointed as governor who no prior experience on any position.
- Rajdeep Deka (acting governor) is the only local to be appointed as the state's governor.
Timeline
Time in office
- Longest serving: Reshmi Hazarika (current; 3 years, 114 days)
- Shortest serving: Rajdeep Deka (acting) (11 days)
Below is the list of the governors of Madhya Prant by total time in office:
- Reshmi Hazarika – 3 years, 114 days
- Sanghita Roy – 131 days
- Saikat Seal – 130 days
- Bhargab Jyoti Medhi – 129 days
- Sampriti Paul – 121 days
- Asmi Patranabis – 84 days
- Kalyan Dey – 74 days
- Arnab Sil (acting) – 54 days
- Subhajit Kar – 46 days
- Ankurjyoti Thakuria – 35 days
- Rajdeep Deka (acting) – 11 days