Chief Minister of Assam | |
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Status | Head of government |
Abbreviation | CM |
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 |
Formation | 26 January 1950 |
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. [1]
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]
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] | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Term of office [3] | Assembly | Party [b] (coalition) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | Muhammed Saadulah | Kamrup (South) | 1 April 1937 | 19 September 1938 | 1 year, 171 days | 1st Provincial | Assam Valley Party (INC) | |
2 | ![]() | Gopinath Bordoloi | Kamrup Sadar (South) | 19 September 1938 | 17 November 1939 | 1 year, 59 days | Indian National Congress | ||
(1) | ![]() | Muhammed Saadulah | Kamrup (South) | 17 November 1939 | 24 December 1941 | 2 years, 37 days | Assam Valley Party (AIML) | ||
- | - | Vacant (Governor's Rule) | - | 25 December 1941 | 24 August 1942 | 242 days | Dissolved | N/A | |
(1) | ![]() | Muhammed Saadulah | Kamrup (South) | 25 August 1942 | 11 February 1946 | 3 years, 170 days | 1st Provincial | Assam Valley Party (AIML) | |
(2) | ![]() | Gopinath Bordoloi | Kamrup Sadar (South) | 11 February 1946 | 25 January 1950 | 3 years, 349 days | 2nd Provincial | Indian National Congress |
# | Portrait | Name (born –died) Constituency) | Election | Tenure in office | Party | Ministry | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
From | To | Time in office | |||||||
1 | ![]() | 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 (1888–1981) MLA for Hajo (from 1951) | 9 August 1950 | 28 December 1957 | 7 years, 141 days | Medhi I | |||
1952 | Medhi II | ||||||||
1957 | Medhi III | ||||||||
3 | ![]() | 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 Choudhry (1909–1982) MLA for Gauhati East | 11 November 1970 | 31 January 1972 | 1 year, 81 days | Choudhry | |||
5 | ![]() | Sarat Chandra Singha (1914–2005) MLA for Bilasipara East | 1972 | 31 January 1972 | 12 March 1978 | 6 years, 40 days | Sinha | ||
6 | ![]() | 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 (1924–1998) MLA for Duliajan | 9 September 1979 | 11 December 1979 | 93 days | Hazarika | |||
Position vacant (12 December 1979 –5 December 1980) President's rule was imposed during this period [c] | |||||||||
8 | ![]() | 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 | ![]() | 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 (1934–1996) MLA for Nazira | 1983 | 27 February 1983 | 24 December 1985 | 2 years, 300 days | Indian National Congress | Saikia I | |
11 | ![]() | 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 (1934–1996) MLA for Nazira | 1991 | 30 June 1991 [§] | 22 April 1996 [†] | 4 years, 297 days | Indian National Congress | Saikia II | |
12 | ![]() | Bhumidhar Barman (1931–2021) MLA for Barkhetry | 22 April 1996 | 15 May 1996 | 23 days | Barman | |||
(11) | ![]() | 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 (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 (born 1962) MLA for Majuli | 2016 | 24 May 2016 | 10 May 2021 | 4 years, 351 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Sonowal | |
15 | ![]() | Himanta Biswa Sarma (born 1969) MLA for Jalukbari | 2021 | 10 May 2021 | Incumbent | 4 years, 113 days | Sarma | ||
# | Chief Minister | Party | Term of office | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Longest continuous term | Total duration of chief ministership | ||||
1 | Tarun Gogoi | INC | 15 years, 6 days | 15 years, 6 days | |
2 | Bimala Prasad Chaliha | INC | 12 years, 318 days | 12 years, 318 days | |
3 | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta | AGP | 5 years, 3 days | 9 years, 342 days | |
4 | Hiteswar Saikia | INC | 4 years, 297 days | 7 years, 232 days | |
5 | Bishnuram Medhi | INC | 7 years, 141 days | 7 years, 141 days | |
6 | Sarat Chandra Sinha | INC | 6 years, 40 days | 6 years, 40 days | |
7 | Sarbananda Sonowal | BJP | 4 years, 351 days | 4 years, 351 days | |
8 | Himanta Biswa Sarma * | BJP* | 4 years, 113 days* | 4 years, 113 days* | |
9 | Golap Borbora | JP | 1 year, 181 days | 1 year, 181 days | |
10 | Mahendra Mohan Choudhry | INC | 1 year, 81 days | 1 year, 81 days | |
11 | Anwara Taimur | INC | 0 year, 206 days | 0 year, 206 days | |
12 | Gopinath Bordoloi | INC | 0 year, 192 days | 0 year, 192 days | |
13 | Kesab Chandra Gogoi | INC | 0 year, 65 days | 0 year, 65 days | |
14 | Jogendra Nath Hazarika | JP | 0 year, 93 days | 0 year, 93 days | |
15 | Bhumidhar Barman | INC | 0 year, 23 days | 0 year, 23 days | |