Chief Minister of West Bengal

The Chief Minister of West Bengal (ISO: Paścimabaṅgera Mukhyamantrī) 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 the head of the Council of Ministers and advises the governor on the appointment of ministers. Along with the council of ministers, the chief minister exercises executive authority in the state. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. The chief minister also serves as the Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly.

On 17 August 1947, the former British Indian province of Bengal was partitioned into the Pakistani province of East Bengal and the Indian state of West Bengal. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh of the Indian National Congress (INC) became the state's first head of government as Premier before the office of chief minister formally came into effect. Following the adoption of the Constitution of India on 26 January 1950, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy became the first Chief Minister of West Bengal. Between 1967 and 1972, West Bengal witnessed a prolonged period of political instability marked by three assembly elections, four coalition governments, and three periods of President's rule. Stability returned under Siddhartha Shankar Ray of the INC, who became the first chief minister after this phase to complete a full five-year term.

Since independence, the state has had nine chief ministers.

The victory of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front in the 1977 assembly election marked the beginning of 34 years of uninterrupted Left Front rule in West Bengal. Jyoti Basu served as chief minister for over 23 years, making him the longest-serving chief minister in India at the time; the record was later surpassed in 2018 by Pawan Kumar Chamling of Sikkim. He was succeeded by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, under whose leadership the Left Front government remained in office until its defeat in the 2011 assembly election.

In the 2011 assembly election, the Trinamool Congress defeated the Left Front, ending its 34-year rule in the state, one of the longest-serving democratically elected Communist governments in the world. The party's leader, Mamata Banerjee, was sworn in on 20 May 2011 as the first woman chief minister of West Bengal. She was subsequently re-elected in the 2016 and 2021 assembly elections.

On 7 May 2026, the Governor of West Bengal, R. N. Ravi, dissolved the 17th Assembly, ending the 15- year tenure of TMC. A 2-day vacancy in the chief ministerships of West Bengal, emerged during this period. However, no proclamation of President's rule was declared. The conclusion of this vacancy came into an effect on 9 May 2026, which the emergence of the government run by Suvendu Adhikari.

In the 2026 assembly election, the Bharatiya Janata Party won a majority in the Legislative Assembly, ending the 15-year tenure of the All India Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal. Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as the first BJP Chief Minister of the state on 9 May 2026, coinciding with the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers, and chief ministers from several NDA-ruled states.

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:

Oath of Secrecy

"I, [Name], do swear in the name of God / solemnly affirm that I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person or persons any matter which shall be brought under my consideration or shall become known to me as a Minister for the State of [Name of State] except as may be required for the due discharge of my duties as such Minister." Benglish:

"Ami, [Name], Ishwarer name shapath koritechhi / driptobhabe ghoshona koritechhi je, ami biniyomito bhabe sthapito Bharat-er Shongbidhaner proti prokrito bishwash o anugotto poshwan koribo; ami Bharat-er sharbovoumotto o akhandata rakhya koribo; ami [State Name] rajyer montri hishebe amar kortobbyo nishtha o bibek-er shathe palon koribo; ebong ami bhoy ba pokkhopat, anurag ba birag-er urdhw-e uthiya, Shongbidhan o ain onujayi shob prokarer manusher proti naybichar koribo."Ami, [Name], Ishwarer name shapath koritechhi / driptobhabe ghoshona koritechhi je, [State Name] rajyer montri hishebe amar bibechanar jonne jaha ona hobe ba jaha amar gochor hobe, taha ami protyokkho ba porokkhobhabe konobyakti ba byaktiborgoke janatbo na ba prokash koribo na; kebolmatro montri hishebe amar kortobbyo suthubhabe paloner jonne jodi taha proyojon hoy, tobei ami taha prokash koribo.""thumb|alt=photo of Writers' Building|[[Writers' Building, an 18th-century Company-era construction in Kolkata, traditionally serves as the office of West Bengal's Chief Minister.|156x156px]]

Premiers of West Bengal (1947–1950)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col" style="width: 30px;" |#

! colspan="1" scope="col" | Portrait

! scope="col" style="width: 150px;" | Name

! scope="col" | Assembly

!Appointed

(Governor)

! colspan="2" |Party

|- style="height: 60px;"

| 1

| alt=photo of Prafulla Chandra Ghosh|94x94px

| scope="row" | Prafulla Chandra Ghosh

| 15 August 1947

| 22 January 1948

| days

| rowspan="2" | Provincial Assembly

(1946)

(President's rule)

|N/A

|20 February 1968

|25 February 1969

|Dissolved

| colspan="2" |N/A

|113x113px

|Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee

|Tamluk

|25 February 1969

|19 March 1970

| rowspan="2" |5th

(1969 election)

|Bangla Congress

| style="background-color: " |

| rowspan="2" |

| rowspan="2" |120x120px

| rowspan="2" |Vacant

(President's rule)

| rowspan="2" |N/A

|19 March 1970

|30 July 1970

| rowspan="2" |

| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |N/A

|30 July 1970

|2 April 1971

|Dissolved

|113x113px

|Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee

|Tamluk

|2 April 1971

|29 June 1971

|6th

(1971 election)

|Indian National Congress

| style="background-color: " |

|120x120px

|Vacant

(President's rule)

|N/A

|29 June 1971

|20 March 1972

|Dissolved

| colspan="2" |N/A

|103x103px

|Siddhartha Shankar Ray

|Maldah

|20 March 1972

|30 April 1977

|7th

(1972 election)

|Indian National Congress

| style="background-color: " |

|120x120px

|Vacant

(President's rule)

|N/A

|30 April 1977

|21 June 1977

|Dissolved

| colspan="2" |N/A

| rowspan="5" |8

| rowspan="5" |99x99px

| rowspan="5" |Jyoti Basu

| rowspan="5" |Satgachhia

|21 June 1977

|23 May 1982

| rowspan="5" |

|8th

(1977 election)

| rowspan="8" |Communist Party of India (Marxist)

| rowspan="8" style="background-color: " |

|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

|6 November 2000

| rowspan="2" |12th

(1996 election)

| rowspan="3" |9

| rowspan="3" |96x96px

| rowspan="3" |Buddhadeb Bhattacharya

| rowspan="3" |Jadavpur

|6 November 2000

|14 May 2001

| rowspan="3" |

|15 May 2001

|17 May 2006

|13th

(2001 election)

|18 May 2006

|20 May 2011

|14th

(2006 election)

| rowspan="3" |10

| rowspan="3" |frameless|93x93px

| rowspan="3" |Mamata Banerjee

| rowspan="3" |Bhabanipur

|20 May 2011

|25 May 2016

| rowspan="3" |

|15th

(2011 election)

| rowspan="3" |Trinamool Congress

| rowspan="3" style="background-color: " |

|26 May 2016

|4 May 2021

|16th

(2016 election)

|5 May 2021

|7 May 2026

|17th

(2021 election)

|120x120px

|Vacant

(Governor's rule)

|N/A

|7 May 2026

|9 May 2026

|Dissolved

|colspan="2"|N/A

|11

|87x87px

|Suvendu Adhikari

|Bhabanipur

|9 May 2026

|Incumbent

|18th

(2026 election)

|Bharatiya Janata Party

| style="background-color: " |

Statistics

Timeline of Chief Minister

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="number" | #

! rowspan="2" | Name

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Party

! colspan="2" | Length of term

! Longest tenure

! Total tenure

! data-sort-value="1" | 1

| Jyoti Basu

| style="background-color: " |

| CPI(M)

! data-sort-value="2" | 2

| Mamata Banerjee

| style="background-color: " |

| TMC

! data-sort-value="3" | 3

| Bidhan Chandra Roy

| style="background-color: " |

| INC

! data-sort-value="4" | 4

| Buddhadeb Bhattacharya

| style="background-color: " |

| CPI(M)

! data-sort-value="5" | 5

| Siddhartha Shankar Ray

| style="background-color: " |

| INC

! data-sort-value="7" | 6

| Prafulla Chandra Sen

| style="background-color: " |

| INC

! data-sort-value="6" | 7

| Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee

| style="background-color: " |

| BC / INC

| 2 years, 139 days

! data-sort-value="8" | 8

| Prafulla Chandra Ghosh

| style="background-color: " |

| IND

| days

! data-sort-value="9" | 9

| Suvendu Adhikari

| style="background-color: " |

| BJP

Total duration of President's rule: 930 days (approximately 2 years and 200 days)

Duration of administrations

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Party / Status !! Total tenure !! Percentage

| Communist Party of India (Marxist)

| 33 years, 331 days

| %

| Indian National Congress

| 22 years, 156 days

| %

| Trinamool Congress

| 14 years, 352 days

| %

| President's rule

| 2 years, 200 days

| %

| Bangla Congress

| 2 years, 55 days

| %

| Independent

| 90 days

| %

| Bharatiya Janata Party

| %

| Governor's rule

| 1 day

| %

Chief Minister of West Bengal

Oath as the state chief minister

Premiers of West Bengal (1947–1950)

Statistics

Timeline of Chief Minister

Duration of administrations

Footnotes

References

See also

Further reading