Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar (born 23 April 1954) is an Indian politician from the state of Goa, serving as the Governor of Kerala since January 2025. He took additional charge as the Governor of Tamil Nadu on 12 March 2026. Previously, he had served as the Governor of Bihar and Himachal Pradesh. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, he was elected twice to the Goa Legislative Assembly. He served as a cabinet minister in the Government of Goa from 2015 to 2017 and was the speaker of the Goa assembly from 2012 to 2015.
Rajendra Arlekar was born on 23 April 1954 at Panaji, Goa, to Vishwanath Arlekar and Tilomattama. He belongs to the Dalit community. He did his schooling at St. JosephâÂÂs Institute, and completed his degree in commerce from MES College in Vasco Da Gama. He is married to Anagha and has two children.
Arlekar was associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh during his childhood. He was imprisoned during the Emergency. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1989. He held various positions within the party, and later served as the state president of the Goa wing of the party. He was elected to the Goa Legislative Assembly for the first time in the 2002 Goa Legislative Assembly election, and was re-elected in 2012. He was elected as the speaker of the assembly in 2012, and during his tenure as the speaker, Goa assembly became the first legislative assembly in India to adopt a paperless system. In October 2015, he was appointed the minister for environment and forests in the Government of Goa.
On 6 July 2021, Arlekar was appointed as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, succeeding Bandaru Dattatreya.
On 16 February 2023, Arlekar was sworn in as the 28th Governor of Bihar. He continued till 2 January 2025 when he was transferred as the Governor of Kerala.
He was moved to take charge as the Governor of Kerala on 24 December 2024. He took charge on 2 January 2025.
On 5 March 2026, he was given additional charges as the Governor of Tamil Nadu, and took charge of the same on 12 March 2026.
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