Venkata Viswanathan (25 January 1909 – 16 January 1987) was an Indian ICS officer who served several gubernatorial tenures across several states. He was the Chief Commissioner of

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

from 1950 to 1952 and of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

from 1964 to 1966, the Lieutenant Governor of Himachal Pradesh from 26 February 1966 to 6 May 1967 and

Governor of Kerala The governor of Kerala is the constitutional head of state of the southern Indian state of Kerala. The governor is appointed by the President of India, and holds office at the President's pleasure. The governor is ''de jure'' head of the govern ...

from 15 May 1967 to 31 March 1973. Viswanathan hailed from Thrikkaderi in Palakkad district of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

and became the first

Malayali The Malayali people (; also spelt Malayalee and sometimes known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala and Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India, occupying its south ...

to be appointed the Governor of Kerala which was unusual given the convention of not appointing a native as the Governor of his home state in India. He studied at the

Central College, Bangalore Central College Bengaluru (1858) is one of the oldest colleges in India. This college was originally affiliated to University of Mysore in Mysore State. Rev. John Garrett was the founder and first principal of the Central High School, which w ...

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

and at the

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

before joining the Indian Civil Service in 1930. Viswanathan had a reputation of being the ‘eyes and ears of

’ and often took an anti-Communist line. He sparred with the then Chief Minister EMS Namboodiripad and once almost precipitated a constitutional crisis, when he prepared his own address to the

Kerala Legislature The Kerala Legislative Assembly, popularly known as the Kerala Niyamasabha, is the State Assembly of Kerala, one of the 30 states in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives. Each elected member represents one of the 140 ...

. The then government rejected his draft and insisted that he read the address which the government had prepared. The Governor complied with this demand. In September 1968, Viswanathan made attempts to persuade EMS to resign. During his tenure, EMS Namboodiripad and

C Achutha Menon Chelat Achutha Menon (13 January 1913 – 16 August 1991) was an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 4th Chief Minister of Kerala from November 1969 to August 1970 and again from October 1970 to 1977. He is viewed as one of the m ...

served as Chief Ministers. He was also a part of the five member Committee of Governors constituted by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

V V Giri to look into norms, functions and powers of the Governors of States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viswanathan, V Governors of Kerala Alumni of University College London People from Palakkad district 1909 births 1987 deaths Governors of Himachal Pradesh Lieutenant governors of Delhi