Chief Minister of West Bengal
Head of Government of West Bengal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Chief Minister of West Bengal (ISO: Paścimavaṅgera 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]
.svg)
- The Honourable (formal)
- Mr. Chief Minister (informal)
- His Excellency (diplomatic)
| Chief Minister of West Bengal | |
|---|---|
| Paścimavaṅgera 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 |
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. Since then, West Bengal has had eight chief ministers. 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. A period of political instability followed between 1967 and 1972, during which the state witnessed three assembly elections, four coalition governments and three periods of President's rule.[4] Siddhartha Shankar Ray of the INC subsequently became the first chief minister after this phase to complete a full five-year term.
The victory of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front in the 1977 assembly election marked the beginning of 34 years of Left Front rule in West Bengal. Jyoti Basu served continuously as chief minister for over 23 years, the longest uninterrupted tenure by any chief minister in India at the time. His record was surpassed in 2018 by Pawan Kumar Chamling of Sikkim.[5] Basu was succeeded by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, under whom the Left Front remained in power until 2011.
In the 2011 assembly election, the Trinamool Congress defeated the Left Front, ending its 34-year[a] 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.
In the 2026 assembly election, the Bharatiya Janata Party secured a majority in the legislative assembly, ending the Trinamool Congress's 15-year[b] tenure in government. The new chief minister, Suvendu Adhikari is to take oath on 9 May 2026.[6]
Oath as the state chief minister
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.
Premiers of West Bengal (1947–1950)
| # | Portrait | Name | Tenure[7] | Assembly (election) |
Appointed
by (Governor) |
Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
| Prafulla Chandra Ghosh | 15 August 1947 | 22 January 1948 | 160 days | Provincial Assembly
(1946–52)[c] |
C. Rajagopalachari | Indian National Congress | |
| 2 |  |
Bidhan Chandra Roy | 23 January 1948 | 26 January 1950 | 2 years, 3 days | ||||
Chief Ministers of West Bengal (1950–present)
| #[e] | Portrait | Chief Minister Constituency |
Election | Tenure[f] | Political party | Ministry | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Period | |||||||
| 1 | |
Bidhan Chandra Roy[†] (1 July 1882 – 1 July 1962) |
Provincial[g] (1946 election) |
26 January 1950 | 30 March 1952 | 12 years, 156 days | Indian National Congress | Roy I | |
| 1952 (1st election) |
31 March 1952 | 5 April 1957 | Roy II | ||||||
| 1957 (2nd election) |
6 April 1957 | 2 April 1962 | Roy III | ||||||
| 1962 (3rd election) |
3 April 1962 | 1 July 1962[†] | Roy IV | ||||||
| 2 |  |
Prafulla Chandra Sen
(10 April 1897 – 25 September 1990) |
2 July 1962 | 1 March 1967 | 4 years, 242 days | Sen | |||
| 3 |  |
Ajoy Mukherjee[§]
(15 April 1901 – 27 December 1986) |
1967 (4th election) |
1 March 1967 | 21 November 1967 | 265 days | Bangla Congress | Mukherjee I | |
| 4 | |
Prafulla Chandra Ghosh
(24 December 1891 – 18 December 1983) |
21 November 1967 | 20 February 1968 | 91 days | Independent | Ghosh | ||
| Position vacant (20 February 1968 – 25 February 1969) President's rule was imposed during this period[d] Period: 1 year, 5 days | |||||||||
| (3) | |
Ajoy Mukherjee[§]
(15 April 1901 – 27 December 1986) |
1969 (5th election) |
25 February 1969 | 19 March 1970 | 1 year, 22 days | Bangla Congress | Mukherjee II | |
| Position vacant (19 March 1970 – 2 April 1971) President's rule was imposed during this period[d] Period: 1 year, 14 days | |||||||||
| (3) | |
Ajoy Mukherjee
(15 April 1901 – 27 December 1986) |
1971 (6th election) |
2 April 1971 | 29 June 1971 | 88 days | Indian National Congress | Mukherjee III | |
| Position vacant (29 June 1971 – 20 March 1972) President's rule was imposed during this period[d] Period: 265 days | |||||||||
| 5 |  |
Siddhartha Shankar Ray
(20 October 1920 – 6 November 2010) |
1972 (7th election) |
20 March 1972 | 30 April 1977 | 5 years, 41 days | Indian National Congress | Ray | |
| Position vacant (30 April 1977 – 21 June 1977) President's rule was imposed during this period[d] Period: 52 days | |||||||||
| 6 |  |
Jyoti Basu
(8 July 1914 – 17 January 2010) |
1977 (8th election) |
21 June 1977 | 23 May 1982 | 23 years, 138 days | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | Basu I | |
| 1982 (9th election) |
24 May 1982 | 29 March 1987 | Basu II | ||||||
| 1987 (10th election) |
30 March 1987 | 18 June 1991 | Basu III | ||||||
| 1991 (11th election) |
19 June 1991 | 15 May 1996 | Basu IV | ||||||
| 1996 (12th election) |
16 May 1996 | 6 November 2000 | Basu V | ||||||
| 7 |  |
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya
(1 March 1944 – 8 August 2024) |
6 November 2000 | 14 May 2001 | 10 years, 195 days | Bhattacharjee I | |||
| 2001 (13th election) |
15 May 2001 | 17 May 2006 | Bhattacharjee II | ||||||
| 2006 (14th election) |
18 May 2006 | 20 May 2011 | Bhattacharjee III | ||||||
| 8 | _(cropped).JPG) |
Mamata Banerjee
(born 5 January 1955) |
2011 (15th election) |
20 May 2011 | 25 May 2016 | 14 years, 352 days | Trinamool Congress | Banerjee I | |
| 2016 (16th election) |
26 May 2016 | 4 May 2021 | Banerjee II | ||||||
| 2021 (17th election) |
5 May 2021 | 7 May 2026[8] | Banerjee III | ||||||
| 9 |  |
Suvendu Adhikari
(born 15 December 1970) |
2026 (18th election) |
9 May 2026 | Incumbent | 1 day | Bharatiya Janata Party | Adhikari | |
Statistics
- Communist Party of India (Marxist) (44.7%)
- Indian National Congress (32.8%)
- Trinamool Congress (19.8%)
- Bangla Congress (2.36%)
- Bharatiya Janata Party (0.00%)
- Independent (0.33%)
Timeline of Chief Minister
| # | Name | Party | Length of term | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Bidhan Chandra Roy | INC | 12 years, 156 days | 14 years, 159 days | |
| 4 | Buddhadeb Bhattacharya | CPI(M) | 10 years, 195 days | 10 years, 195 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, 19 days | 2 years, 6 days | |
| 8 | Prafulla Chandra Ghosh | IND / INC | 160 days | 250 days | |
| 9 | Suvendu Adhikari | BJP | 1 day | 1 day | |
Party-wise tenure over years
| Party | Total tenure | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 33 years, 333 days | 44.74% |
| Indian National Congress | 24 years, 325 days | 32.84% |
| Trinamool Congress | 14 years, 352 days | 19.75% |
| Bangla Congress | 1 years, 287 days | 2.36% |
| Independent | 91 days | 0.33% |
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 0 days | 0% |
See also
Footnotes
- 33 years 333 days
- 14 years 352 days
- 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]
- Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, President's rule may be imposed when the government of a state cannot function as per the Constitution. During this time, the council of ministers is dissolved and the governor administers the state.
- A number in parentheses indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
- Total period considered is from 15 August 1947 to 9 May 2026.
- Durations are calculated proportionally from percentage share and expressed in years and days.
- Figures are rounded to the nearest day.
