The governor of Kerala is the constitutional head of state of the southern Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

. The governor is appointed by the

president of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murm ...

for a term of five years and holds office at the president's pleasure. The governor is ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legall ...

'' head of the

government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decisio ...

; all its executive actions are taken in the governor's name. However, the governor must act on the advice of the popularly elected council of ministers, headed by the

chief minister of Kerala The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's '' de jure'' head, but '' de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minist ...

, who thus holds ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

'' executive authority in the state. The

Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...

also empowers the governor to act upon his or her own discretion, such as the ability to appoint or dismiss a ministry, recommend

President's rule In India, President's rule is the suspension of state government and imposition of direct Union government rule in a state. Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, if a state government is unable to function according to Constitutional ...

, or reserve bills for the president's assent. Over the years, the exercise of these discretionary powers have given rise to conflict between the elected chief minister and the

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or del ...

–appointed governor. Durga Das Basu. ''Introduction to the Constitution of India''. 1960. 20th edition, 2011 reprint. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. . p. 237, 241–44. Note: although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Kerala as well. Since 6 September 2019,

Arif Mohammad Khan Arif Mohammad Khan (born 18 November 1951) is an Indian politician representing the BJP. He currently serving as the Governor of Kerala & the Chancellor of all State Universities in Kerala. He is a former Union Minister. He has held several po ...

, is the governor of Kerala.

Governors of Kerala

External links

Governors of Kerala

References

{{Kerala topics Governors of Kerala

Governors Governors

Governors of Kerala

See also

External links

References