List of chief ministers of Assam

Last updated
Chief Minister of Assam
Seal of Assam.svg
Himanta Biswa Sarma, 2024.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 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. [2]

Gopinath Bordoloi.jpg
Anwara Taimur.jpeg
Golap Borbora.jpg
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
Tarun Gogoi - Kolkata 2013-02-10 4891.JPG
Himanta Biswa Sarma, 2024.jpg
  • Top left: Gopinath Bordoloi was the first chief minister of Assam.
  • Top center: Anwara Taimur was the first and only woman to serve as chief Minister.
  • Top right: Golap Borbora was the first non-Congress chief minister.
  • Bottom left: Prafulla Kumar Mahanta was the first non-Congress chief minister to complete a full 5 year term and the only non-Congress chief minister to date to have served on two occasions.
  • Bottom center: Tarun Gogoi was the longest serving chief minister for 15 years.
  • Bottom right: Himanta Biswa Sarma is the current chief minister.

List

Prime ministers (1935-50)

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 (1950-present)

Note: Died in office

# [c] PortraitName Constituency Term of office [4] AssemblyParty [d]
1 Gopinath Bordoloi.jpg Gopinath Bordoloi Kamrup Sadar (South)26 January 19505 August 1950 [†] 191 days2nd Provincial

(1946 election)

Indian National Congress
2 Bishnuram Medhi.jpg Bishnuram Medhi Hajo 9 August 195028 December 19577 years, 141 days
1st

(1952 election)

2nd

(1957 election)

3 Bimala Prasad Chaliha Badarpur 28 December 195711 November 197012 years, 318 days
Sonari 3rd

(1962 election)

4th

(1967 election)

4 Mahendra Mohan Choudhry Guwahati East 11 November 197031 January 19721 year, 81 days
5 Sarat Chandra Singha.jpg Sarat Chandra Sinha Bilasipara East 31 January 197212 March 19786 years, 40 days5th

(1972 election)

6 Golap Borbora.jpg Golap Borbora Tinsukia 12 March 19789 September 19791 year, 181 days6th

(1978 election)

Janata Party
7 Jogendra Nath Hazarika Lok Sabha photo.jpg Jogendra Nath Hazarika Duliajan 9 September 197911 December 197993 days
Emblem of India.svg Vacant [e]

(President's rule)

N/A12 December 19795 December 1980359 daysN/A
8 Anwara Taimur Dalgaon 6 December 198030 June 1981206 days Indian National Congress
Emblem of India.svg Vacant [e]

(President's rule)

N/A30 June 198113 January 1982197 daysN/A
9 Kesab Chandra Gogoi Dibrugarh 13 January 198219 March 198265 days Indian National Congress
Emblem of India.svg Vacant [e]

(President's rule)

N/A19 March 198227 February 1983345 daysDissolvedN/A
10 Hiteswar Saikia with Shankar Dayal Sharma (cropped).jpg Hiteswar Saikia Nazira 27 February 198324 December 19852 years, 300 days7th

(1983 election)

Indian National Congress
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 Nowgong 24 December 198528 November 19904 years, 339 days8th

(1985 election)

Asom Gana Parishad
Emblem of India.svg Vacant [e]

(President's rule)

N/A28 November 199030 June 1991214 daysDissolvedN/A
(10) Hiteswar Saikia with Shankar Dayal Sharma (cropped).jpg Hiteswar Saikia Nazira 30 June 199122 April 1996 [†] 4 years, 297 days9th

(1991 election)

Indian National Congress
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 Barkhetry 22 April 199615 May 199623 days
(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 Barhampur 15 May 199618 May 20015 years, 3 days10th

(1996 election)

Asom Gana Parishad
13 Tarun Gogoi - Kolkata 2013-02-10 4891 Cropped.JPG Tarun Gogoi Titabar 18 May 200124 May 201615 years, 6 days11th

(2001 election)

Indian National Congress
12th

(2006 election)

13th

(2011 election)

14 Sarbananda Sonowal with PM Modi (cropped).jpg Sarbananda Sonowal Majuli 24 May 201610 May 20214 years, 351 days14th

(2016 election)

Bharatiya Janata Party
15 Himanta Biswa Sarma (cropped).jpg Himanta Biswa Sarma Jalukbari 10 May 2021Incumbent4 years, 14 days15th

(2021 election)

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, 14 days*4 years, 14 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 (11.25%)
  2. Indian National Congress (69.03%)
  3. Asom Gana Parishad (13.29%)
  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. A parenthetical number indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
  4. 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.
  5. 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. [5]

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. Chief Ministers Archived 16 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine from the Assam Assembly website
  5. Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005. Retrieved on 3 March 2013.