List of governors of Meghalaya


The governor of Meghalaya serves as the ceremonial head of the Indian state of Meghalaya. Appointed by the president of India, the governor holds office as long as the president desires. The governor's official residence is the Raj Bhavan.
The position of the governor of Meghalaya came into existence following the creation of the state in January 1972 as a result of the bifurcation of Assam. The first governor was Braj Kumar Nehru, then governor of Assam who held the additional charge of the governor of the newly created state of Meghalaya from 21 January 1972 until his transfer on 19 September 1973. From 1972 until 1989, the Governor of Assam held the additional charge of the Governor of Meghalaya. The first full-time governor of the state was A. A. Rahim who served from 27 July 1989 until 8 May 1990.
The current governor is C. H. Vijayashankar who has been in office since 30 July 2024. The longest-serving governor of the state is M. M. Jacob who served for from 19 June 1995 until retiring on 11 April 2007.

History

The position of the Governor of Meghalaya came into existence after the creation of Meghalaya as in independent state on 21 January 1972. The inaugural holder of the office was Braj Kumar Nehru, the Governor of Assam who held the charge of the Governor of Meghalaya until his transfer in September 1973. His successors in Assam, namely Lallan Prasad Singh, Prakash Mehrotra, Justice Tribeni Sahai Misra, Bhishma Narain Singh and Harideo Joshi concurrently held the additional charge of the Governor of Meghalaya. The first full-time governor was appointed in July 1989 with A. A. Rahim who served until May 1990. Since then, Meghalaya has had all full-time governors, except for few occasions.
Following the retirement of M. M. Jacob, the state's longest serving governor in 2007, then Manipur Governor Shivinder Singh Sidhu held the additional charge as the state's governor from 29 October 2007 until the appointment of Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary on 30 June 2008. West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi held the additional charge of the governorship from 6 January 2015 until 19 May 2015 after then governor Krishan Kant Paul was appointed as Governor of Uttarakhand. Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit held the additional charge of the state's governor from 27 January 2017 till 5 October 2017 after the resignation of V. Shanmuganathan, while Arunachal Governor B. D. Mishra held the charge of the state's governorship from 4 October 2022 till 13 February 2023 following the retirement of Satyapal Malik.

Powers and functions

The governor enjoys many different types of powers:
  • Executive powers related to administration, appointments and removals,
  • Legislative powers related to lawmaking and the state legislature, that is Vidhan Sabha or Vidhan Parishad, and
  • Discretionary powers to be carried out according to the discretion of the governor.
Apart from enjoying various constitutional powers, the governor of Meghalaya also the Chief Rector of the North Eastern Hill University, the sole central university in the state.

List

This is a list of the governors of Meghalaya state in northeastern India. Meghalaya became an autonomous state within Assam on 1 April 1970 and a separate state on 21 January 1972.
;Legend
  • Died in office
  • Transferred
  • Resigned/removed
;Color key
  • indicates acting/additional charge

Oath

“I, A. B., do swear in the name of God/solemly affirm that I will faithfully
execute the office of Governor of............. and will to
the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution and the law and that I will devote myself to
the service and well-being of the people of..……….”