List of chief ministers of West Bengal explained

Border:parliamentary
Minister:not prime
Post:Chief Minister
Body:West Bengal
Incumbent:Mamata Banerjee
Incumbentsince:20 May 2011
Office1:20 May 2011
Insignia:Emblem of West Bengal (2018-present).svg
Insigniasize:175
Insigniacaption:Seal of the State of West Bengal
Style:
Type:Head of Government
Status:Leader of the Executive
Abbreviation:CM
Appointer:Governor of West Bengal by convention based on appointees ability to command confidence in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly
Reportsto:
Inaugural:Prafulla Chandra Ghosh as Premier
Bidhan Chandra Ray as Chief Minister
Formation:
Residence:30-B, Harish Chatterjee Street, Kolkata[1]
Seat:Nabanna, Howrah
Precursor:Prime Minister of Bengal
Termlength:At the confidence of the assembly
Termlength Qualified:Chief Minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.[2]
Nominator:Members of the Government of West Bengal in West Bengal Legislative Assembly
Salary:
  • /monthly
  • /annually
Deputy:Deputy Chief Minister (vacant)

The Chief Minister of West Bengal (IAST: Paścim Baṅgēr Mukhya Mantrī) 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 head of the Council of Ministers and appoints ministers. The chief minister, along with their cabinet, exercises executive authority in the state. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly.

On 17 August 1947, the 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 seven chief ministers, starting with Prafulla Chandra Ghosh of the Indian National Congress (INC) party as the premier (elected to lead the assembly while the chief minister is not appointed).[3] Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy in 1950 became the first formal Chief Minister of West Bengal after the implementation of the Indian Constitution. A period of political instability followed thereafter—West Bengal witnessed three elections, four coalition governments and three stints of President's rule between 1967 and 1972—before Siddhartha Shankar Ray of the INC served a five-year term.[4]

The landslide victory of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front in the 1977 election began Jyoti Basu's 23-year continuous reign as chief minister. The length of his tenure was an all-India record until 2018, when he was surpassed by Sikkim's Pawan Kumar Chamling.[5] Basu's successor Buddhadeb Bhattacharya continued the communist rule in West Bengal for another decade, when the Left Front was defeated in the 2011 election by the All India Trinamool Congress, thereby ending the 34-year long rule of the Left Front government, a fact that was noted by the international media. Sworn in on 20 May 2011, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee is West Bengal's incumbent chief minister, the first woman to hold the office. She was subsequently voted to power in 2016 and 2021 assembly elections. She is the only female incumbent Chief Minister in India at present (as per 2024).

Prime Ministers of West Bengal (1947–50)

! colspan="1" scope="col"
PortraitNameTenure[6] DurationAssembly
PartyAppointedby

(Governor)

1 15 August 1947 22 January 1948 days Provincial Assembly (1946–52)
Indian National CongressChakravarthi Rajagopalachari
2 23 January 1948 26 January 1950

Chief Ministers of West Bengal (1950–present)

! colspan="1" scope="col"
PortraitNameConstituencyTenureDurationAssembly[7]
Party
(2) Bidhan Chandra Roy
26 January 1950 30 March 1952
(total: 14 years, 159 days)
Provincial Assembly
(1946 election)
Bowbazar31 March 1952 5 April 1957 1st (1952 election)
6 April 1957 2 April 1962 2nd(1957 election)
Chowrangee3 April 1962 1 July 1962 3rd
(1962 election)
3 Prafulla Chandra SenArambagh East9 July 1962 28 February 1967
4 Ajoy Kumar MukherjeeTamluk1 March 1967 days 4th(1967 election)Bangla Congress
(1) Prafulla Chandra GhoshJhargram19 February 1968 days
(total: 250 days)
Independent
Vacant
(President's rule)
N/A20 February 1968 25 February 1969 Dissolved N/A
(4) Ajoy Kumar MukherjeeTamluk25 February 1969 16 March 1970 5th
(1969 election)
Bangla Congress
Vacant
(President's rule)
N/A19 March 1970 30 July 1970 N/A
30 July 1970 2 April 1971 Dissolved
(4) Ajoy Kumar MukherjeeTamluk2 April 1971 28 June 1971 days
6th(1971 election)Indian National Congress
Vacant
(President's rule)
N/A29 June 1971 20 March 1972 days Dissolved N/A
5 Siddhartha Shankar RayMaldah20 March 1972 30 April 1977 7th(1972 election)Indian National Congress
Vacant
(President's rule)
N/A30 April 1977 20 June 1977 days Dissolved N/A
6 Jyoti BasuSatgachhia21 June 1977 23 May 1982 8th(1977 election)Communist Party of India (Marxist)
24 May 1982 29 March 1987 9th(1982 election)
30 March 1987 18 June 1991 10th(1987 election)
19 June 1991 15 May 1996 11th (1991 election)
16 May 1996 5 November 2000 12th(1996 election)
7Buddhadeb BhattacharyaJadavpur6 November 2000 14 May 2001
15 May 2001 17 May 2006 13th(2001 election)
18 May 2006 13 May 2011 14th
(2006 election)
8 Mamata BanerjeeBhabanipur20 May 2011 25 May 2016 15th (2011 election)Trinamool Congress" style="background-color: #00ff48"
26 May 2016 4 May 2021 16th (2016 election)" style="background-color: #00ff48"
5 May 2021 Incumbent 17th (2021 election)" style="background-color: #00ff48"

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Arshad Ali. "Mamata may move to new CM's residence – British-era bungalow". The Indian Express. 8 October 2013. Archived on 19 July 2014.
  2. [Durga Das Basu]
  3. http://members.tripod.com/~tanmoy/bengal/modern.html Modern Bengal
  4. http://wbassembly.gov.in/origin_growth.aspx Origin and Growth of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly
  5. "Pawan Kumar Chamling crosses Jyoti Basu’s record as longest-serving Chief Minister ". The Hindu. 29 April 2018.Archived on 31 July 2018.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20160312211800/http://wbassembly.gov.in/html/permiChMin.html Premiers/Chief Ministers of West Bengal
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20160313055600/http://wbassembly.gov.in/html/briinfopreass.htm Brief Information on Previous Assemblies