| Border: | parliamentary |
| Minister: | not_prime |
| Post: | Chief Minister |
| Body: | Assam |
| Insignia: | File:Seal of Assam.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 200px |
| Insigniacaption: | Emblem of Assam |
| Incumbent: | Himanta Biswa Sarma |
| Incumbentsince: | 10 May 2021 |
| Appointer: | Governor of Assam |
| Reportsto: | Governor of Assam |
| Inaugural: | Gopinath Bordoloi |
| Status: | Head of Government |
| Abbreviation: | CM |
| Member Of: | Assam Legislative Assembly& Assam Council of Ministers |
| Termlength: | At the confidence of the assembly |
| Termlength Qualified: | five years and is subject to no term limits.[1] |
| Precursor: | Premier of Assam |
| Deputy: | Deputy Chief Minister of Assam |
The chief minister of Assam, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Assam. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Assam Legislative Assembly, the governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.[2]
Since 1946, Assam has had 17 chief ministers. Ten of these belonged to the Indian National Congress, including Gopinath Bordoloi, the first Chief Minister of Assam, and Anwara Taimur, India's first female Muslim chief minister. Congress monopoly in the state was brought to an end when Golap Borbora led the Janata party to victory in the 1978 assembly elections. Borbora consequently became the first non congress Chief Minister of Assam. Prior to that, Borbora was the first member of the non congress opposition to be elected as a Rajya Sabha member from Assam. Congressman Tarun Gogoi is the longest-serving officeholder, having served for 15 years from 2001 to 2016. Sarbananda Sonowal became the Assam's first chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party, when he was sworn in on 24 May 2016. On 9 May 2021, Himanta Biswa Sarma is announced as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam.[3]
Under the Government of India Act 1935, a bicameral legislature was set up with a legislative assembly and a legislative council. The premier of Assam was the head of the government and leader of the legislative assembly of Assam Province.
| Portrait | Name | Constituency | Term of office[4] | Assembly | Party(coalition) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muhammed Saadulah | Kamrup (South) | 1 April 1937 | 19 September1938 | 1stProvincial | Assam Valley Party(INC) | ||||
| 2 | Gopinath Bordoloi | Kamrup Sadar (South) | 19 September1938 | 17 November1939 | Indian National Congress | |||||
| (1) | Muhammed Saadulah | Kamrup (South) | 17 November1939 | 24 December 1941 | Assam Valley Party(AIML) | |||||
| - | - | Vacant(Governor's Rule) | - | 25 December 1941 | 24 August 1942 | Dissolved | N/A | |||
| (1) | Muhammed Saadulah | Kamrup (South) | 25 August 1942 | 11 February 1946 | 1stProvincial | Assam Valley Party(AIML) | ||||
| (2) | Gopinath Bordoloi | Kamrup Sadar (South) | 11 February 1946 | 25 January 1950 | 2nd Provincial(1946 election) | Indian National Congress | ||||
Note: Died in office
| Portrait | Name | Constituency | Term of office[5] | Assembly | Party | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gopinath Bordoloi | Kamrup Sadar (South) | 26 January 1950 | 6 August 1950 | 2nd Provincial(1946 election) | Indian National Congress | |||
| 2 | Bishnuram Medhi | Hajo | 9 August 1950 | 28 December 1957 | |||||
| 1st(1952 election) | |||||||||
| 2nd(1957 election) | |||||||||
| 3 | Bimala Prasad Chaliha | Badarpur | 28 December 1957 | 11 November 1970 | |||||
| Sonari | 3rd(1962 election) | ||||||||
| 4th(1967 election) | |||||||||
| 4 | Mahendra Mohan Choudhry | Guwahati East | 11 November 1970 | 31 January 1972 | |||||
| 5 | Sarat Chandra Sinha | Bilasipara East | 31 January 1972 | 12 March 1978 | 5th(1972 election) | ||||
| 6 | Golap Borbora | Tinsukia | 12 March 1978 | 9 September 1979 | 6th(1978 election) | Janata Party | |||
| 7 | Jogendra Nath Hazarika | Duliajan | 9 September 1979 | 11 December 1979 | |||||
| – | Vacant(President's rule) | N/A | 12 December 1979 | 5 December 1980 | N/A | ||||
| 8 | Anwara Taimur | Dalgaon | 6 December 1980 | 30 June 1981 | Indian National Congress | ||||
| – | Vacant(President's rule) | N/A | 30 June 1981 | 13 January 1982 | N/A | ||||
| 9 | Kesab Chandra Gogoi | Dibrugarh | 13 January 1982 | 19 March 1982 | Indian National Congress | ||||
| – | Vacant(President's rule) | N/A | 19 March 1982 | 27 February 1983 | Dissolved | N/A | |||
| 10 | Hiteswar Saikia | Nazira | 27 February 1983 | 24 December 1985 | 7th(1983 election) | Indian National Congress | |||
| 11 | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta | Nowgong | 24 December 1985 | 28 November 1990 | 8th(1985 election) | Asom Gana Parishad | |||
| – | Vacant(President's rule) | N/A | 28 November 1990 | 30 June 1991 | Dissolved | N/A | |||
| (10) | Hiteswar Saikia | Nazira | 30 June 1991 | 22 April 1996 | 9th(1991 election) | Indian National Congress | |||
| 12 | Bhumidhar Barman | Barkhetry | 22 April 1996 | 15 May 1996 | |||||
| (11) | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta | Barhampur | 15 May 1996 | 18 May 2001 | 10th(1996 election) | Asom Gana Parishad | |||
| 13 | Tarun Gogoi | Titabar | 18 May 2001 | 24 May 2016 | 11th(2001 election) | Indian National Congress | |||
| 12th(2006 election) | |||||||||
| 13th(2011 election) | |||||||||
| 14 | Sarbananda Sonowal | Majuli | 24 May 2016 | 10 May 2021 | 14th(2016 election) | Bharatiya Janata Party | |||
| 15 | Himanta Biswa Sarma | Jalukbari | 10 May 2021 | Incumbent | 15th(2021 election) | ||||