Chief Minister of Assam

Last updated
Chief Minister of Assam
Seal of Assam.svg
Himanta Biswa Sarma in 2025.jpg
since 10 May 2021
Status Head of government
AbbreviationCM
Member of Assam Legislative Assembly
Assam Council of Ministers
Reports to Governor of Assam
Appointer Governor of Assam
Term length At the confidence of the Assembly
Five years and is subject to no term limits. [1]
Precursor Premier of Assam
Inaugural holder Gopinath Bordoloi
Formation26 January 1950
(75 years ago)
 (1950-01-26)
DeputyDeputy 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. [1]

Contents

Since 1946, Assam has had 17 chief ministers. Ten of them 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 party's continuous rule in the state was brought to an end when Golap Borbora led the Janata party to victory in the 1978 elections. Borbora consequently became the first non-Congress chief minister of the state. Prior to that, Borbora was also the first non-Congress leader to be elected to the Rajya Sabha from the state. Congressman Tarun Gogoi is the longest-serving officeholder, having served for 15 years between 2001 and 2016. Sarbananda Sonowal became the first chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party, when he was sworn in on 24 May 2016. On 9 May 2021, Himanta Biswa Sarma was announced as the 15th chief minister of Assam. [2]

Prime Ministers of Assam (19351950)

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.

# [a] PortraitNameConstituencyTerm of office [3] AssemblyParty [b]

(coalition)

1 Syed Saadulla.jpg Muhammed Saadulah Kamrup (South)1 April 193719 September

1938

1 year, 171 days1st

Provincial

(1937 election)

Assam Valley Party

(INC)

2 Gopinath Bordoloi.jpg Gopinath Bordoloi Kamrup Sadar (South)19 September

1938

17 November

1939

1 year, 59 days Indian National Congress
(1) Syed Saadulla.jpg Muhammed Saadulah Kamrup (South)17 November

1939

24 December 19412 years, 37 days Assam Valley Party

(AIML)

--Vacant

(Governor's Rule)

-25 December 194124 August 1942242 daysDissolvedN/A
(1) Syed Saadulla.jpg Muhammed Saadulah Kamrup (South)25 August 194211 February 19463 years, 170 days1st

Provincial

(1937 election)

Assam Valley Party

(AIML)

(2) Gopinath Bordoloi.jpg Gopinath Bordoloi Kamrup Sadar (South)11 February 194625 January 19503 years, 349 days2nd Provincial

(1946 election)

Indian National Congress

Chief Ministers of Assam (1950present)

#PortraitName
(born died)
Constituency)
ElectionTenure in officePartyMinistry
FromToTime in office
1 Gopinath Bordoloi.jpg Gopinath Bordoloi
(1890–1950)
MLA for Kamrup Sadar (South)
1946
(Provincial)
26 January
1950
5 August
1950 [†]
191 days Indian National Congress Bordoloi
2 Bishnuram Medhi.jpg Bishnuram Medhi
(1888–1981)
MLA for Hajo (from 1951)
9 August
1950
28 December
1957
7 years, 141 daysMedhi I
1952 Medhi II
1957 Medhi III
3 Bimala Prasad Chaliha.jpg Bimala Prasad Chaliha
(1912–1971)
MLA for Badarpur (until 1962)
MLA for Sonari (from 1962)
28 December
1957
11 November
1970
12 years, 348 days Chaliha I
1962 Chaliha II
1967 Chaliha III
4 Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Rajya Sabha photo.jpg Mahendra Mohan Choudhry
(1909–1982)
MLA for Gauhati East
11 November
1970
31 January
1972
1 year, 81 daysChoudhry
5 Sarat Chandra Singha (cropped).jpg Sarat Chandra Singha
(1914–2005)
MLA for Bilasipara East
1972 31 January
1972
12 March
1978
6 years, 40 days Sinha
6 Golap Borbora (denoised).jpg Golap Borbora
(1925–2006)
MLA for Tinsukia
1978 12 March
1978
9 September
1979
1 year, 181 days Janata Party Borbora
7 Jogendra Nath Hazarika Lok Sabha photo.jpg Jogendra Nath Hazarika
(1924–1998)
MLA for Duliajan
9 September
1979
11 December
1979
93 daysHazarika
Position vacant (12 December 1979 5 December 1980)
President's rule was imposed during this period [c]
8 Syeda Anwara Taimur.jpg Anwara Taimur
(1936–2020)
MLA for Dalgaon
6 December
1980
30 June
1981
206 days Indian National Congress Taimur
Position vacant (30 June 1981 13 January 1982)
President's rule was imposed during this period [c]
9 Seal of Assam.svg Kesab Chandra Gogoi
(1925–1998)
MLA for Dibrugarh
13 January
1982
19 March
1982
65 days Indian National Congress Kesab Gogoi
Position vacant (19 March 1982 27 February 1983)
President's rule was imposed during this period [c]
10 Hiteswar Saikia with Shankar Dayal Sharma (cropped).jpg Hiteswar Saikia
(1934–1996)
MLA for Nazira
1983 27 February
1983
24 December
1985
2 years, 300 days Indian National Congress Saikia I
11 The former Chief Minister of Assam, Shri Prafulla Kumar Mahanta calling on the Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge), Dr. Mahesh Sharma, in New Delhi on July 20, 2017 (cropped).jpg Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
(born 1952)
MLA for Nowgong
1985 24 December
1985
28 November
1990
4 years, 339 days Asom Gana Parishad Mahanta I
Position vacant (28 November 1990 30 June 1991)
President's rule was imposed during this period [c]
(10) Hiteswar Saikia with Shankar Dayal Sharma (cropped).jpg Hiteswar Saikia
(1934–1996)
MLA for Nazira
1991 30 June
1991 [§]
22 April
1996 [†]
4 years, 297 days Indian National Congress Saikia II
12 Dr. Bhumidhar Barman, Former Chief Minister of Assam and Agriculture Adviser to the Chief Minister of Assam addressing at the Public Information Campaign on Bharat Nirman, organized by Press Information Bureau (cropped).jpg Bhumidhar Barman
(1931–2021)
MLA for Barkhetry
22 April
1996
15 May
1996
23 days Barman
(11) The former Chief Minister of Assam, Shri Prafulla Kumar Mahanta calling on the Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge), Dr. Mahesh Sharma, in New Delhi on July 20, 2017 (cropped).jpg Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
(born 1952)
MLA for Barhampur
1996 15 May
1996 [§]
18 May
2001
5 years, 3 days Asom Gana Parishad Mahanta II
13 Tarun Gogoi - Kolkata 2013-02-10 4891 Cropped.JPG Tarun Gogoi
(1934–2020)
MLA for Titabar
2001 18 May
2001
24 May
2016
15 years, 6 days Indian National Congress Tarun Gogoi I
2006 Tarun Gogoi II
2011 Tarun Gogoi III
14 Sarbananda Sonowal 2023.jpg Sarbananda Sonowal
(born 1962)
MLA for Majuli
2016 24 May
2016
10 May
2021
4 years, 351 days Bharatiya Janata Party Sonowal
15 Himanta Biswa Sarma in 2025.jpg Himanta Biswa Sarma
(born 1969)
MLA for Jalukbari
2021 10 May
2021
Incumbent4 years, 113 days Sarma

Statistics

List by chief minister

#Chief MinisterPartyTerm of office
Longest continuous termTotal duration of chief ministership
1 Tarun Gogoi INC 15 years, 6 days15 years, 6 days
2 Bimala Prasad Chaliha INC 12 years, 318 days12 years, 318 days
3 Prafulla Kumar Mahanta AGP 5 years, 3 days9 years, 342 days
4 Hiteswar Saikia INC 4 years, 297 days7 years, 232 days
5 Bishnuram Medhi INC 7 years, 141 days7 years, 141 days
6 Sarat Chandra Sinha INC 6 years, 40 days6 years, 40 days
7 Sarbananda Sonowal BJP 4 years, 351 days4 years, 351 days
8 Himanta Biswa Sarma * BJP*4 years, 113 days*4 years, 113 days*
9 Golap Borbora JP 1 year, 181 days1 year, 181 days
10 Mahendra Mohan Choudhry INC 1 year, 81 days1 year, 81 days
11 Anwara Taimur INC 0 year, 206 days0 year, 206 days
12 Gopinath Bordoloi INC 0 year, 192 days0 year, 192 days
13 Kesab Chandra Gogoi INC 0 year, 65 days0 year, 65 days
14 Jogendra Nath Hazarika JP 0 year, 93 days0 year, 93 days
15 Bhumidhar Barman INC 0 year, 23 days0 year, 23 days

Timeline

Fraction of time of holding Chief minister's office by party (as of October 2024)
  1. Bharatiya Janata Party (11.2%)
  2. Indian National Congress (69.0%)
  3. Asom Gana Parishad (13.3%)
  4. Janata Party (2.34%)
  5. President's Rule (4.09%)

See also

Notes

  1. A parenthetical number indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
  2. This column only names the chief minister's party. The state government he heads may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.
  3. 1 2 3 4 When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved. [4]

References

  1. 1 2 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 Assam as well.
  2. "Himanta Biswa Sarma Crowned 15th Chief Minister Of Assam". Pratidin Time. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  3. Chief Ministers Archived 16 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine from the Assam Assembly website
  4. Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005. Retrieved on 3 March 2013.