Chief Minister of West Bengal
| Chief Minister of West Bengal | |
|---|---|
| Paścimabaṅgera Mukhyamantrī (ISO) | |
 | |
 | |
| Style |
|
| Type | Head of government |
| Status | Leader of the Executive |
| Abbreviation | CM |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | |
| Seat | Writer's Building, Kolkata |
| Nominator | MLAs of the majority party or alliance |
| Appointer | Governor of West Bengal by convention based on appointees ability to command confidence in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly |
| Term length | At the confidence of the assembly Chief Minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.[1] |
| Precursor | Prime Minister of Bengal |
| Inaugural holder | Prafulla Chandra Ghosh (as Premier) Bidhan Chandra Ray (as Chief Minister) |
| Formation | 15 August 1947 |
| Deputy | Deputy Chief Minister (vacant) |
| Salary |
|
| Website | CMO West Bengal |
The Chief Minister of West Bengal (ISO: Paścimabaṅgera Mukhyamantrī) is the de facto head of the executive branch of the Government of West Bengal, the subnational authority of the Indian state of West Bengal. The chief minister is the head of the Council of Ministers and advises the governor on the appointment of ministers. Along with the council of ministers, the chief minister exercises executive authority in the state. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. The chief minister also serves as the Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly.[2]
On 17 August 1947, the former British Indian province of Bengal was partitioned into the Pakistani province of East Bengal and the Indian state of West Bengal. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh of the Indian National Congress (INC) became the state's first head of government as Premier before the office of chief minister formally came into effect.[3] Following the adoption of the Constitution of India on 26 January 1950, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy became the first Chief Minister of West Bengal. Between 1967 and 1972, West Bengal witnessed a prolonged period of political instability marked by three assembly elections, four coalition governments, and three periods of President's rule.[4] Stability returned under Siddhartha Shankar Ray of the INC, who became the first chief minister after this phase to complete a full five-year term. [5] Since independence, the state has had nine chief ministers.
The victory of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front in the 1977 assembly election marked the beginning of 34 years of uninterrupted Left Front rule in West Bengal. Jyoti Basu served as chief minister for over 23 years, making him the longest-serving chief minister in India at the time; the record was later surpassed in 2018 by Pawan Kumar Chamling of Sikkim.[6] He was succeeded by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, under whose leadership the Left Front government remained in office until its defeat in the 2011 assembly election.
In the 2011 assembly election, the Trinamool Congress defeated the Left Front, ending its 34-year rule in the state, one of the longest-serving democratically elected Communist governments in the world. The party's leader, Mamata Banerjee, was sworn in on 20 May 2011 as the first woman chief minister of West Bengal. She was subsequently re-elected in the 2016 and 2021 assembly elections.
On 7 May 2026, the Governor of West Bengal, R. N. Ravi, dissolved the 17th Assembly, ending the 15- year tenure of TMC. A 2-day vacancy in the chief ministerships of West Bengal, emerged during this period. However, no proclamation of President's rule was declared. The conclusion of this vacancy came into an effect on 9 May 2026, which the emergence of the government run by Suvendu Adhikari.
In the 2026 assembly election, the Bharatiya Janata Party won a majority in the Legislative Assembly, ending the 15-year tenure of the All India Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal. Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as the first BJP Chief Minister of the state on 9 May 2026, coinciding with the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers, and chief ministers from several NDA-ruled states.[7][8]
Oath as the state chief minister
[edit]The chief minister serves five years in the office. The following is the oath of the chief minister of state:
I, <Name of Chief Minister>, do swear in the name of God/solemnly affirm that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as a Minister for the State of () and that I will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
Oath of Secrecy
"I, [Name], do swear in the name of God / solemnly affirm that I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person or persons any matter which shall be brought under my consideration or shall become known to me as a Minister for the State of [Name of State] except as may be required for the due discharge of my duties as such Minister." Benglish:
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"Ami, [Name], Ishwarer name shapath koritechhi / sotto nishthar sohit protigga koritechhi je, ami bidhi dara sthapito Bharat-er Shongbidhaner proti prokrito shrodhha o anugotto poshon koribo; ami Bharat-er sharbobhoumotto o akhandata rakhya koribo; ami [State Name] rajyer mukhhomontri hishebe amar kortobbyo nishtha o bibek-sommoto bhabe palon koribo; ebong ami bhoy ba pokkhopat, anurag ba birag-er urdhw-e uthiya, Shongbidhan o ain onujayi shob prokarer manusher proti naybichar koribo.
"Ami, [Name], Ishwarer name shapath koritechhi / driptobhabe ghoshona koritechhi je, [State Name] rajyer montri hishebe amar bibechanar jonne jaha ona hobe ba jaha amar gochor hobe, taha ami protyokkho ba porokkhobhabe konobyakti ba byaktiborgoke janatbo na ba prokash koribo na; kebolmatro montri hishebe amar kortobbyo suthubhabe paloner jonne jodi taha proyojon hoy, tobei ami taha prokash koribo.
Premiers of West Bengal (1947–1950)
[edit]| # | Portrait | Name[5] | Tenure[9] | Assembly (election) |
Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Prafulla Chandra Ghosh | 15 August 1947 | 23 January 1948 | 161 days | Provincial[a] (1946 election) |
Indian National Congress | |
| 2 |  |
Bidhan Chandra Roy | 23 January 1948 | 26 January 1950 | 2 years, 3 days | |||
Chief Ministers of West Bengal (1950–present)
[edit]| # | Portrait | Name[5] (born – died) |
Constituency | From[b] | To | Time in office | Assembly
(election) |
Political Party | Appointed By | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
Bidhan Chandra Roy (1882 – 1962) |
26 January 1950 | 30 March 1952 | 2 years, 64 days | Provincial[c] | Indian National Congress | Kailash Nath Katju | ||
| Bowbazar | 31 March 1952 | 5 April 1957 | 10 years, 92 days | 1st (1952 election) |
Harendra Coomar Mookerjee | |||||
| 6 April 1957 | 2 April 1962 | 2nd (1957 election) |
Padmaja Naidu | |||||||
| Chowrangee | 3 April 1962 | 1 July 1962[†] | 3rd (1962 election) | |||||||
| 2 |  |
Prafulla Chandra Sen (1897 – 1990) |
Arambagh | 2 July 1962 | 1 March 1967 | 4 years, 242 days | ||||
| 3 |  |
Ajoy Mukherjee (1901 – 1986) |
Tamluk | 1 March 1967 | 21 November 1967 | 265 days | 4th (1967 election) |
Bangla Congress | ||
| 4 | |
Prafulla Chandra Ghosh (1891 – 1983) |
Jhargram | 21 November 1967 | 20 February 1968 | 91 days | Independent | Dharma Vira | ||
| – |  |
Vacant[d] | N/A | 20 February 1968 | 25 February 1969 | 1 year, 5 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | |
| (3) | |
Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee (1901 – 1986) |
Tamluk | 25 February 1969 | 30 July 1970 | 1 year, 155 days | 5th (1969 election) |
Bangla Congress | Dharma Vira | |
| – | |
Vacant[d] | N/A | 30 July 1970 | 2 April 1971 | 246 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | |
| (3) | |
Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee (1901 – 1986) |
Tamluk | 2 April 1971 | 29 June 1971 | 88 days | 6th (1971 election) |
Indian National Congress | Shanti Swaroop Dhawan | |
| – | |
Vacant[d] | N/A | 29 June 1971 | 20 March 1972 | 265 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | |
| 5 |  |
Siddhartha Shankar Ray (1920 – 2010) |
Maldaha | 20 March 1972 | 30 April 1977 | 5 years, 41 days | 7th (1972 election) |
Indian National Congress | Anthony Lancelot Dias | |
| – | |
Vacant[d] | N/A | 30 April 1977 | 21 June 1977 | 52 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | |
| 6 |  |
Jyoti Basu (1914 – 2010) |
Satgachhia | 21 June 1977 | 23 May 1982 | 23 years, 138 days | 8th (1977 election) |
Communist Party of India (Marxist) | Anthony Lancelot Dias | |
| 24 May 1982 | 29 March 1987 | 9th (1982 election) |
Bhairab Dutt Pande | |||||||
| 30 March 1987 | 18 June 1991 | 10th (1987 election) |
Saiyid Nurul Hasan | |||||||
| 19 June 1991 | 15 May 1996 | 11th (1991 election) | ||||||||
| 16 May 1996 | 6 November 2000 | 12th (1996 election) |
K. V. Raghunatha Reddy | |||||||
| 7 |  |
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya (1944 – 2024) |
Jadavpur | 6 November 2000 | 14 May 2001 | 10 years, 195 days | Viren J. Shah | |||
| 15 May 2001 | 17 May 2006 | 13th (2001 election) | ||||||||
| 18 May 2006 | 20 May 2011 | 14th (2006 election) |
Gopalkrishna Gandhi | |||||||
| 8 |  |
Mamata Banerjee
(b. 1955) |
Bhabanipur (May 2011 – April 2021), (May 2021 – May 2026) | 20 May 2011 | 25 May 2016 | 14 years, 352 days | 15th (2011 election) |
Trinamool Congress | M. K. Narayanan | |
| 26 May 2016 | 4 May 2021 | 16th (2016 election) |
Keshari Nath Tripathi | |||||||
| 5 May 2021 | 7 May 2026[REM][10] | 17th (2021 election) |
Jagdeep Dhankar | |||||||
| – | |
Vacant[e]
Governor's Rule |
N/A | 7 May 2026 | 9 May 2026 | 2 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | |
| 9 | .jpg) |
Suvendu Adhikari (born 1970) |
Bhabanipur | 9 May 2026 | Incumbent | 100 days | 18th (2026 election) |
Bharatiya Janata Party | R. N. Ravi | |
Statistics
[edit]- Communist Party of India (Marxist) (42.9%)
- Indian National Congress (31.5%)
- Trinamool Congress (18.9%)
- Bharatiya Janata Party (0.35%)
- President's rule (3.77%)
- Bangla Congress (2.26%)
- Independent (0.32%)
- Office vacant/Governor's Rule[f][12] (0.00%)
Timeline of Chief Minister
[edit]| #[g] | Name | Political Party | Time in office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longest tenure | Total tenure | ||||
| 1 | Jyoti Basu | CPI(M) | 23 years, 138 days | 23 years, 138 days | |
| 2 | Mamata Banerjee | TMC | 14 years, 352 days | 14 years, 352 days | |
| 3 | Buddhadeb Bhattacharya | CPI(M) | 10 years, 195 days | 10 years, 195 days | |
| 4 | Bidhan Chandra Roy | INC | 10 years, 92 days | 10 years, 92 days | |
| 5 | Siddhartha Shankar Ray | INC | 5 years, 41 days | 5 years, 41 days | |
| 6 | Prafulla Chandra Sen | INC | 4 years, 242 days | 4 years, 242 days | |
| 7 | Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee | BC / INC | 1 year, 155 days | 2 years, 139 days | |
| 8 | Suvendu Adhikari | BJP | 100 days | 100 days | |
| 9 | Prafulla Chandra Ghosh | IND | 91 days | 91 days | |
Total duration of President's rule: 930 days (approximately 2 years and 200 days)
Total duration of Governor's rule: 2 days
Timeline of political parties
[edit]| # | Political party | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 33 years, 333 days |
| 2 | Trinamool Congress | 14 years, 352 days |
| 3 | Indian National Congress | 14 years, 336 days[h][i] |
| 4 | Indian National Congress | 5 years, 41 days[j] |
| 5 | Bangla Congress | 1 year, 155 days[k] |
| 6 | Bangla Congress | 265 days[l] |
| 7 | Independent | 91 days |
| 8 | Indian National Congress | 88 days[m] |
| 9 | Bharatiya Janata Party | 100 days |
Timeline of alliances (national)
[edit]| # | Alliance | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | INDIA[n][o] | 48 years, 320 days |
| 2 | INDIA[p] | 14 years, 336 days |
| 3 | INDIA[q] | 5 years, 41 days |
| 4 | INDIA[r] | 1 year, 155 days |
| 5 | None[s] | 356 days |
| 6 | INDIA[t] | 88 days |
| 7 | NDA | 100 days |
Footnotes
[edit]- ↑ This refers to the 90-member rump legislature that emerged following partition, representing the West Bengali constituencies of the erstwhile Bengal Legislative Assembly. It was constituted under the Government of India Act 1935, not the Indian Constitution, which was still in the process of being drafted.[4]
- ↑ While the tenures have been primarily sourced to a list on the West Bengal Legislative Assembly website,[9] obvious errors (mainly around the 1969–71 period) have been corrected with the help of a historical essay from the same website.[4]
- ↑ Following the promulgation of the Constitution of India, the provincial assembly carried on as the legislative assembly of West Bengal until fresh elections could be organised in 1952.[4]
- 1 2 3 4 Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, President's rule may be imposed when the "government in a state is not able to function as per the Constitution", which often happens because no party or coalition has a majority in the assembly. When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant, and the administration is taken over by the governor, who functions on behalf of the central government. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.[11]
- ↑ Imposed by Governor R. N. Ravi
- ↑ The office remained vacant on 8 May 2026 following the dissolution of the outgoing ministry by Governor R. N. Ravi on the night of 7 May 2026, amid outgoing chief minister Mamata Banerjee's refusal to resign after the election defeat. Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as chief minister at 11:34 on 9 May 2026.
- ↑
- Durations are calculated proportionally from percentage share and expressed in years and days.
- Figures are rounded to the nearest day.
- ↑ Excluding the term from 1948 to 1952
- ↑ Term between 30 March 1952 and 1 March 1967
- ↑ Term between March 1972 and 30 April 1977
- ↑ Term between 25 February 1969 and 30 July 1970
- ↑ Term between 1 March 1967 and 21 November 1967
- ↑ Term between 2 April 1971 and 29 June 1971
- ↑ 'INDIA' is referred to the alliance with its respect working since 2023. During the term between 21 June 1977 and 2023, the alliance wasn't known as INDIA.
- ↑ The term between 21 June 1977 and 7 May 2026.
- ↑ Term between 30 March 1952 and 1 March 1967
- ↑ Term between March 1972 and 30 April 1977
- ↑ Term between 21 February 1969 and 30 July 1970
- ↑ None does not means President's or Governor's rule. It indicates the two political parties, Independent and Bangla Congress, which did not had an alliance when it was in power.
- ↑ Term between 2 April 1971 and 29 June 1971
References
[edit]- ↑ Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th Edition, 2011 Reprint. pp. 241, 245. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. ISBN 978-81-8038-559-9. Note: Although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies for the specific case of West Bengal as well.
- ↑ "Leader of the House – Legislative Assembly".
- ↑ Modern Bengal A Short History of Bengal. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
- 1 2 3 4 Origin and Growth of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- 1 2 3 "List of Chief Ministers of West Bengal". WBXPress. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
- ↑ "Pawan Kumar Chamling crosses Jyoti Basu's record as longest-serving Chief Minister". The Hindu. 29 April 2018. Archived on 31 July 2018.
- ↑ "New West Bengal CM to take oath on May 9, says state BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya". The Times of India. 6 May 2026. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
- ↑ "Suvendu Adhikari takes oath as West Bengal's first BJP chief minister". The Times of India. 9 May 2026. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
- 1 2 Premiers/Chief Ministers of West Bengal. West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Archive link from 12 March 2016.
- 1 2 "Former Chief Ministers". West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
- ↑ Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005. Archived on 16 August 2017.
- ↑ "West Bengal: Governor dissolves assembly even as Mamata Banerjee refuses to quit". The Times of India. 7 May 2026. Retrieved 13 May 2026.
See also
[edit]Further reading
[edit]
- "Left Front Government of Bengal: A Saga of Struggle" – a political history of West Bengal from the CPI(M)'s point of view