Chief Minister of West Bengal

Chief Minister of West Bengal
Incumbent Mamata Banerjee since 20 May 2011
Chief Minister's Office Government of West Bengal
Style	The Honourable (formal) Madam Chief Minister (informal) Her Excellency (diplomatic)
Type	Head of Government
Status	Leader of the Executive
Abbreviation	CM
Member of	Cabinet West Bengal Legislative Assembly
Reports to	Governor of West Bengal West Bengal Legislative Assembly
Residence	30-B, Harish Chatterjee Street, Kolkata [1]
Seat	Nabanna, Howrah [a]
Nominator	Members of the Government of West Bengal in West Bengal Legislative Assembly
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. [3]
Precursor	Prime Minister of Bengal
Inaugural holder	Prafulla Chandra Ghosh as Premier Bidhan Chandra Ray as Chief Minister
Formation	15 August 1947 (78 years ago) (1947-08-15)
Deputy	Deputy Chief Minister (vacant)
Salary	₹117,000 (US$1,400)/monthly ₹1,404,000 (US$17,000)/annually
Website	CMO West Bengal

The chief minister of West Bengal 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.Chief Minister also serves as Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. ^[4]

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). ^[5] 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. ^[6]

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. ^[7] 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 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 one of the two female incumbent chief ministers in India as of 2024.

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.

Key

Colour key for parties
Trinamool Congress    Indian National Congress    Bangla Congress    Communist Party of India (Marxist)    Independent   N/A (President's rule)

Writers' Building, an 18th-century Company-era construction in Kolkata, traditionally served as the office of West Bengal's chief minister.

The first Premier of West Bengal since Independence, Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, at Writers' in 1947

The State Emblem of India. West Bengal has come under President's rule on four occasions, all between 1968 and 1977.

With over 23 years in office, Jyoti Basu of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is India's third longest-serving chief minister.

Basu's successor Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who served for over 11 years

List

• ^† Died in office
• ^§ Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term

Premiers of West Bengal (1947–1950)

#	Portrait		Premier (Birth-Death) Constituency	Election	Term of office [8]			Political party [6]	Ministry
					From	To	Period
1			Prafulla Chandra Ghosh (1891–1983)	1946 (Provincial) [b]	15 August 1947	22 January 1948	160 days	Indian National Congress	Ghosh
2			Bidhan Chandra Roy (1882–1962)		23 January 1948	26 January 1950	2 years, 3 days		Roy I

Chief Ministers of West Bengal (1950–present)

#	Portrait		Chief Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Election	Term of office [8]			Political party [6]	Ministry
					From	To	Period
1			Bidhan Chandra Roy (1882–1962) MLA for Bowbazar, 1952–1962 MLA for Chowrangee, from 1962	– (Provincial)	26 January 1950	1 July 1962 [†]	12 years, 156 days	Indian National Congress	Roy I
				1952 (1st)					Roy II
				1957 (2nd)					Roy III
				1962 (3rd)					Roy IV
2			Prafulla Chandra Sen (1897–1990) MLA for Arambagh East		2 July 1962	1 March 1967	4 years, 242 days		Sen
3			Ajoy Mukherjee (1901–1986) MLA for Tamluk	1967 (4th)	1 March 1967	21 November 1967	265 days	Bangla Congress	Mukherjee I
4			Prafulla Chandra Ghosh (1891–1983) MLA for Jhargram		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 [c]
(3)			Ajoy Mukherjee (1901–1986) MLA for Tamluk	1969 (5th)	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 [c]
(3)			Ajoy Mukherjee (1901–1986) MLA for Tamluk	1971 (6th)	2 April 1971 §	29 June 1971	88 days	Bangla Congress	Mukherjee III
Position vacant (29 June 1971 –20 March 1972) President's rule was imposed during this period [c]
5			Siddhartha Shankar Ray (1920–2010) MLA for Maldah	1972 (7th)	20 March 1972	30 April 1977	5 years, 41 days	Indian National Congress	Ray
Position vacant (30 April –21 June 1977) President's rule was imposed during this period [c]
6			Jyoti Basu (1914–2010) MLA for Satgachhia	1977 (8th)	21 June 1977	6 November 2000	23 years, 138 days	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	Basu I
				1982 (9th)					Basu II
				1987 (10th)					Basu III
				1991 (11th)					Basu IV
				1996 (12th)					Basu V
7			Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (1944–2024) MLA for Jadavpur		6 November 2000	20 May 2011	10 years, 195 days		Bhattacharjee I
				2001 (13th)					Bhattacharjee II
				2006 (14th)					Bhattacharjee III
8			Mamata Banerjee (born 1955) MLA for Bhabanipur	2011 (15th)	20 May 2011	Incumbent	14 years, 225 days	Trinamool Congress	Banerjee I
				2016 (16th)					Banerjee II
				2021 (17th)					Banerjee III

Statistics

Fraction of time of holding CMO by party in West Bengal (as of December 2025)

1. Communist Party of India (Marxist) (46.1%)
2. Indian National Congress (33.9%)
3. Trinamool Congress (18.2%)
4. Bangla Congress (1.44%)
5. Independent (0.34%)

No.	Name	Party		Length of term
				Longest continuous term	Total years of premiership
1	Jyoti Basu		CPI(M)	23 years, 137 days	23 years, 137 days
2	Mamata Banerjee		TMC	14 years, 225 days	14 years, 225 days
3	Bidhan Chandra Roy		INC	12 years, 156 days	14 years, 159 days
4	Buddhadeb Bhattacharya		CPI(M)	10 years, 188 days	10 years, 188 days
5	Siddhartha Shankar Ray		INC	5 years, 41 days	5 years, 41 days
6	Prafulla Chandra Sen		INC	4 years, 234 days	4 years, 234 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

See also

• List of deputy chief ministers of West Bengal
• List of governors of West Bengal
• List of rulers of Bengal
• Prime Minister of Bengal

Footnotes

1. Since October 2013 Chief Minister Banerjee has worked from the top floor of the newly constructed Nabanna building in Howrah, while Writers' Building undergoes renovation. ^[2]
2. 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. ^[6]
3. President's rule may be imposed when the "government in a state is not able to function as per the Constitution", which often happens because no party or coalition has a majority in the assembly. When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant, and the administration is taken over by the governor, who functions on behalf of the central government. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved. ^[9]

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. Shiv Sahay Singh. "Mamata shifts office to Nabanna". The Hindu . 6 October 2013. Archived on 21 December 2016.
3. 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 West Bengal as well.
4. https://apuat21.cgg.gov.in/web/legislative-assembly/leader-of-the-house
5. Modern Bengal A Short History of Bengal. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
6. Origin and Growth of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Retrieved on 27 July 2018.
   Note: In case of an error, please click the "Origin & Growth" button in the top left of the website.
7. "Pawan Kumar Chamling crosses Jyoti Basu's record as longest-serving Chief Minister ". The Hindu. 29 April 2018.Archived on 31 July 2018.
8. Premiers/Chief Ministers of West Bengal. West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Archive link from 12 March 2016.
9. Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005.

Further reading

• "Left Front Government of Bengal: A Saga of Struggle" – a political history of West Bengal from the CPI(M)'s point of view