# List of governors of Chhattisgarh

The Governor of Chhattisgarh 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 Biswabhusan Harichandan who has been in office since 23 February 2023.

## 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 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.

## History

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.

## List of governors
### Key

* $^†$ Died in office
* $^§$ Resigned from office
* $^ẟ$ Removed from office

### Legend

* indicate acting governors/governors holding additional charge
| # | Name | Took office | Left office |
| 1 | Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya | 1 November 1956 | 13 June 1957 |
| 2 | Hari Vinayak Pataskar | 14 June 1957 | 10 February 1965 |
| 3 | K. Chengalaraya Reddy | 11 February 1965 | 2 February 1966 |
| - | P. V. Dixit (acting) | 2 February 1966 | 9 February 1966 |
| (3) | K. Chengalaraya Reddy | 10 February 1966 | 7 March 1971 |
| 4 | Satya Narayan Sinha | 8 March 1971 | 13 October 1977 |
| 5 | N. N. Wanchu | 14 October 1977 | 16 August 1978 |
| 6 | C. M. Poonacha | 17 August 1978 | 29 April 1980 |
| 7 | B. D. Sharma | 30 April 1980 | 25 May 1981 |
| - | G. P. Singh (acting) | 26 May 1981 | 9 July 1981 |
| (7) | B. D. Sharma | 10 July 1981 | 20 September 1983 |
| - | G. P. Singh (acting) | 21 September 1983 | 7 October 1983 |
| (7) | B. D. Sharma | 8 October 1983 | 14 May 1984 |
| 8 | Prof. K.M Chandy | 15 May 1984 | 30 November 1987 |
| - | Narayan Dutta Ojha (acting) | 1 December 1987 | 29 December 1987 |
| (8) | Prof. K.M Chandy | 30 December 1987 | 30 March 1989 |
| 9 | Sarla Grewal | 31 March 1989 | 5 February 1990 |
| 10 | M. A. Khan | 6 February 1990 | 23 June 1993 |
| 11 | Mohammad Shafi Qureshi | 24 June 1993 | 21 April 1998 |
| 12 | Bhai Mahavir | 22 April 1998 | 1 November 2000 |

## List

| No. | Portrait | Name (born – died) | Home state | Tenure in office | Tenure in office | Tenure in office | Immediate prior position held | Appointed by |
| No. | Portrait | Name (born – died) | Home state | From | To | Time in office | Immediate prior position held | Appointed by |
| 1 | | Dinesh Nandan Sahay IPS (Retd.) (1936–2018) | Bihar | 1 November 2000 | 1 June 2003 | 2 years, 212 days | Director-General of Bihar Police | K. R. Narayanan (President) |
| 2 | | Lieutenant General (Retd.) Krishna Mohan Seth PVSM AVSM (born 1939) | Uttar Pradesh | 2 June 2003 | 25 January 2007 | 3 years, 237 days | Governor of Tripura | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (President) |
| 3 | | E. S. L. Narasimhan IPS (Retd.) (1945) | Tamil Nadu | 26 January 2007 | 23 January 2010 | 2 years, 362 days | Director of the Intelligence Bureau | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (President) |
| 4 | | Shekhar Dutt SM IAS (Retd.) (born 1945) | Assam | 23 January 2010 | 19 June 2014 | 4 years, 147 days | Deputy National Security Advisor | Pratibha Patil (President) |
| – | | Ram Naresh Yadav Governor of Madhya Pradesh (1928–2016) (Additional Charge) | Uttar Pradesh | 19 June 2014 | 14 July 2014 | 25 days | Governor of Madhya Pradesh (continued) | Pranab Mukherjee (President) |
| 5 | | Balram Das Tandon (1927–2018) | Punjab | 18 July 2014 | 14 August 2018 | 4 years, 27 days | Cabinet Minister, Punjab (until 2002) | Pranab Mukherjee (President) |
| – | | Anandiben Patel Governor of Madhya Pradesh (born 1941) (Additional Charge) | Gujarat | 15 August 2018 | 28 July 2019 | 347 days | Governor of Madhya Pradesh (continued) | Ram Nath Kovind (President) |
| 6 | | Anusuiya Uikey (born 1957) | Madhya Pradesh | 29 July 2019 | 22 February 2023 | 3 years, 208 days | Vice-Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes | Ram Nath Kovind (President) |
| 7 | | Biswabhusan Harichandan (born 1934) | Odisha | 23 February 2023 | Incumbent | 2 years, 24 days | Governor of Andhra Pradesh | Droupadi Murmu (President) |