MPPSC 2025 Prelims Paper-I · Question 15 of 100

Correct — A, Pattabhi Sitaramayya. He was Madhya Pradesh's first Governor, taking office the day the State was created, 1 November 1956, and demitting on 13 June 1957 — about seven and a half months, by far the shortest of the four. The others all ran for years: H. V. Pataskar 14 June 1957 - 10 February 1965, K. C. Reddy across two spells (11 February 1965 - 2 February 1966 and 10 February 1966 - 7 March 1971), and Satya Narayan Sinha 8 March 1971 - 13 October 1977.

• (b)Hari Vinayak Pataskar — The longest of the four — 14 June 1957 to 10 February 1965, close to eight years in Raj Bhavan.
• (c)Kyasamballi Chengalaraya Reddy — K. C. Reddy, the first Chief Minister of Mysore State, was Governor of MP across two spells between February 1965 and March 1971 — around six years in all, broken only by a brief acting arrangement in early 1966.
• (d)Satya Narayan Sinha — Governor from 8 March 1971 to 13 October 1977 — over six and a half years, and the man in office during the President's rule of 1977.

Article 156 sets a five-year term for a Governor, but clause (1) of the same Article says he holds office 'during the pleasure of the President'. The term is therefore an outer frame, not a guarantee: a Governor can be moved, transferred or asked to resign earlier — which routinely happens after a change of government at the Centre — and he also continues beyond five years until a successor takes charge. That is why real tenures range from a few months to nearly a decade.

Anchor the list on a date you already know: Madhya Pradesh was created on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act, so the first Governor's clock starts there. Sitaramayya left office on 13 June 1957, which makes his the shortest term among the names offered. The trap is to guess the least familiar name instead of reasoning from the State's formation date and the fact that a first Governor's term is often the shortest.

• Madhya Pradesh was formed on 1 November 1956; Pattabhi Sitaramayya was its first Governor (1 November 1956 - 13 June 1957).
• Sitaramayya wrote The History of the Indian National Congress, founded Andhra Bank at Machilipatnam in 1923, lost the 1939 Tripuri Congress presidential election to Subhas Chandra Bose, and was Congress President in 1948-49.
• Article 156: a Governor holds office during the pleasure of the President, normally for five years, and continues until a successor enters office.
• Order of the early MP Governors: Sitaramayya (1956-57), Pataskar (1957-65), K. C. Reddy (1965-71), Satya Narayan Sinha (1971-77).

• Treating the five-year term in Article 156 as fixed and irremovable
• Assuming a newly created State's first Governor must have served a full term
• Counting only one of K. C. Reddy's two spells and shortening his tenure on paper

MPPSC mines the Raj Bhavan list every few years — first Governor, first woman Governor, acting Governors, longest and shortest tenures. UPSC leaves the list alone and asks the constitutional position instead: Articles 155-156, pleasure doctrine, discretionary powers.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under Article 156 of the Constitution, a Governor of a State holds office:

  • (a)for a fixed term of five years which cannot be curtailed
  • (b)during the pleasure of the President, normally for a term of five years
  • (c)during the pleasure of the Chief Minister of the State
  • (d)for five years, extendable once by a resolution of Parliament

  Answer(b) during the pleasure of the President, normally for a term of five years — and he continues until a successor takes charge.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In the Congress presidential election of 1939, Subhas Chandra Bose defeated which of Gandhi's preferred candidates?

  • (a)Pattabhi Sitaramayya
  • (b)Rajendra Prasad
  • (c)J. B. Kripalani
  • (d)Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

  Answer(a) Pattabhi Sitaramayya — the defeat that Gandhi described as more his own than Sitaramayya's, at the Tripuri session.