Arlekar, new full-time TN Governor Sudha Yadav to take charge of Karnataka in new gubernatorial duties

Om Prakash Mathur (L) is the new Governor of Kerala and Dushyant Gautam has been appointed as the new Governor of Sikkim. File. | Photo credit: The Hindu

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday (October 12, 2026) made some changes in the governorships of the six states, with Rajendra Arlekar now serving as the full-time Governor of Tamil Nadu, where he had held other posts along with Keralam, and OP Mathur, who served as the Governor of Sikkim in Kerala, to now serve as the Governor of Kerala.

The Rashtrapati Communiqué announced that Sudha Yadav was appointed as the Governor of Karnataka, Braj Mohan Ram as the Governor of Odisha, Dhal Singh Bisen as the Governor of Uttarakhand and former BJP General Secretary Dushyant Gautam as the Governor of Sikkim.

Mr. Arlekar had a dual leadership in both Tamil Nadu and Kerala for some time and oversaw the swearing in of new governments in both those states after the polls earlier this year. Dr. Sudha Yadav, now appointed as the Governor of Karnataka to replace Thawarchand Gahlot, is a former Member of Parliament from Mahendragarh in Haryana from 1999 to 2004 and also served as a member of the BJP’s Parliamentary Council, its highest decision-making body, from August 2022 until the leadership of National President Nitin Nabin’s new team.

Dr. Brij Mohan Ram, now appointed as the Governor of Odisha, was a member of the Lok Sabha from 1996-2004 representing Palamau in Jharkhand.

The poll-bound Uttarakhand will also get a new governor with Dhal Singh Bisen, a former MP from Madhya Pradesh who has served as a minister in the state government in the past. He replaces Lt Gen (retd) Gurmeet Singh, whose five-year tenure, one of the longest in the state, ended in September.

Mr. Gautam, a former Rajya Sabha member who served as BJP General Secretary under the chairmanship of Union Minister JP Nadda, has been appointed as Sikkim Governor.

A communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said the tenure of the governors would come into effect on the date of assumption of power, which was not specified.

Published – 12 October 2026 21:35 IST