Arlekar appointed full-time Governor of Tamil Nadu

Chennai, Oct 12:

President Droupadi Murmu has appointed Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar as the full-time Governor of Tamil Nadu, formalising his position after he took over the additional charge of the State in March following the end of R N Ravi’s tenure.

The appointment is part of a wider gubernatorial reshuffle involving six States — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Sikkim. While Arlekar has been named Governor of Tamil Nadu, former Maharashtra leader Om Prakash Mathur has been appointed Governor of Kerala. Other appointments include Brij Mohan Ram for Odisha, Dr Sudha Yadav for Karnataka, Dr Dhal Singh Bisen for Uttarakhand and Dushyant Gautam for Sikkim.

Arlekar, who was serving as the Governor of Kerala, was entrusted with the additional responsibility of Tamil Nadu after the President accepted Ravi’s transfer to West Bengal in March. Arlekar assumed office as the 27th Governor of Tamil Nadu on March 12, with the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court administering the oath of office at Lok Bhavan. His latest appointment now formalises his position as the State’s Governor.

Arlekar subsequently administered the oath of office to C Joseph Vijay, leader of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), when the party formed the government in Tamil Nadu in May. Vijay’s swearing-in marked a change in the State’s political leadership, with Arlekar presiding over the constitutional process of installing the new government.

The full-time appointment comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Chennai on October 11. During the visit, Chief Minister Vijay and Governor Arlekar accompanied the Prime Minister at official engagements in the city. The three leaders’ presence at the programmes brought the Governor and the new State government into the public spotlight alongside the Prime Minister.

Born in Panaji, Goa, on April 23, 1954, Arlekar has had a long political and administrative career. He was elected to the Goa Legislative Assembly in 2002 and again in 2012, and served as Speaker of the Goa Assembly from 2012 to 2015. He later served as Goa’s Minister for Forests, Environment and Panchayati Raj.

Arlekar was appointed Governor of Himachal Pradesh in July 2021 and moved to Bihar in February 2023. He became Governor of Kerala in January 2025 before being assigned additional responsibility for Tamil Nadu in March 2026. His tenure as Goa Assembly Speaker was also associated with efforts to make the legislature paperless.