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Chief Minister of West Bengal
Emblem of West Bengal (2018-present).svg
Seal of the State of West Bengal
Photo of Mamata Banerjee
Incumbent
Mamata Banerjee

since 20 May 2011
  • Chief Minister's Office
  • Government of West Bengal
Style
Abbreviation CM
Member of
  • Cabinet
  • West Bengal Legislative Assembly
Reports to
Residence 30-B, Harish Chatterjee Street, Kolkata
Seat Nabanna, Howrah
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.
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$2,000)/monthly
  • 1,404,000 (US$24,000)/annually

The Chief Minister of West Bengal (পশ্চিমবঙ্গের মুখ্যমন্ত্রী) is like the main leader of the government in the Indian state of West Bengal. Think of them as the head of the state's team of ministers. This team makes important decisions for the people of West Bengal.

The Chief Minister chooses other ministers to help run different parts of the government. Together, they make sure the state works smoothly. The Governor of West Bengal officially appoints the Chief Minister. However, the person chosen must have the support of most members in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

West Bengal became a part of India on August 17, 1947. Before that, it was part of a larger area called Bengal under British rule. Since 1947, West Bengal has had several Chief Ministers. The first leader was Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, who was called a "premier" at the time.

Later, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy became the first official Chief Minister in 1950. This happened after India's Constitution was put into action. There was a period of political changes between 1967 and 1972. During this time, the state had different governments and sometimes the central government had to take control for a while. This is called "President's rule."

A very important event was when Jyoti Basu became Chief Minister in 1977. He led the state for 23 years, which was a record in India for a long time! His party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), stayed in power for 34 years.

In 2011, the Trinamool Congress party won the election. Mamata Banerjee became the Chief Minister on May 20, 2011. She is the first woman to hold this important position in West Bengal. She has been re-elected twice, in 2016 and 2021, and is still the Chief Minister today.

Understanding the Political Parties

This section helps you understand the different political parties mentioned in the lists below. Each party has a special color to make it easier to follow.

Colour key for parties

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

List of West Bengal's Chief Ministers

Here you can see a list of all the leaders who have served West Bengal. It includes both the early "Premiers" and the "Chief Ministers" as we know them today.

Premiers (1947–1950)

These leaders were called "Premiers" before the Indian Constitution was fully in place.

Premiers of West Bengal
No. Portrait Name Tenure Duration Assembly
(election)
Party Appointed

by

(Governor)

1 photo of Prafulla Chandra Ghosh Prafulla Chandra Ghosh 15 August 1947 22 January 1948 160 days Provincial Assembly

(1946–52)
(January 1946 election)

Indian National Congress Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari
2 Photograph of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, 2nd Chief Minister of West Bengal.jpg Bidhan Chandra Roy 23 January 1948 26 January 1950 2 years, 3 days

Chief Ministers (1950–Present)

This list shows all the Chief Ministers of West Bengal since 1950.

# Portrait Name Constituency Tenure Assembly
(election)
Party
1 Photograph of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, 2nd Chief Minister of West Bengal.jpg Bidhan Chandra Roy 26 January 1950 30 March 1952 12 years, 156 days Provincial
(1946 election)
Indian National Congress
Bowbazar 31 March 1952 5 April 1957 1st

(1952 election)

6 April 1957 2 April 1962 2nd

(1957 election)

Chowrangee 3 April 1962 1 July 1962 3rd
(1962 election)
2 PrafullaChandraSen.png Prafulla Chandra Sen Arambagh East 2 July 1962 1 March 1967 4 years, 242 days
3 Ajoy Mukherjee.jpg Ajoy Mukherjee Tamluk 1 March 1967 21 November 1967 265 days 4th

(1967 election)

Bangla Congress
4 photo of Prafulla Chandra Ghosh Prafulla Chandra Ghosh Jhargram 21 November 1967 20 February 1968 91 days Independent
Emblem of India.svg Vacant
(President's rule)
N/A 20 February 1968 25 February 1969 1 year, 5 days Dissolved N/A
(3) Ajoy Mukherjee.jpg Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee Tamluk 25 February 1969 19 March 1970 1 year, 22 days 5th
(1969 election)
Bangla Congress
Emblem of India.svg Vacant
(President's rule)
N/A 19 March 1970 30 July 1970 1 year, 14 days N/A
30 July 1970 2 April 1971 Dissolved
(3) Ajoy Mukherjee.jpg Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee Tamluk 2 April 1971 29 June 1971 88 days 6th

(1971 election)

Indian National Congress
Emblem of India.svg Vacant
(President's rule)
N/A 29 June 1971 20 March 1972 265 days Dissolved N/A
5 SiddharthaShankarRay.png Siddhartha Shankar Ray Maldah 20 March 1972 30 April 1977 5 years, 41 days 7th

(1972 election)

Indian National Congress
Emblem of India.svg Vacant
(President's rule)
N/A 30 April 1977 21 June 1977 52 days Dissolved N/A
6 Jyoti Basu - Calcutta 1996-12-21 089 Cropped.png Jyoti Basu Satgachhia 21 June 1977 23 May 1982 23 years, 138 days 8th

(1977 election)

Communist Party of India (Marxist)
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 12th

(1996 election)

7 Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in 2009.jpg Buddhadeb Bhattacharya Jadavpur 6 November 2000 14 May 2001 10 years, 195 days
15 May 2001 17 May 2006 13th

(2001 election)

18 May 2006 20 May 2011 14th
(2006 election)
8 Ms. Mamata Banerjee, in Kolkata on July 17, 2018 (cropped) (cropped).JPG Mamata Banerjee Bhabanipur 20 May 2011 25 May 2016 14 years, 135 days 15th

(2011 election)

Trinamool Congress
26 May 2016 4 May 2021 16th

(2016 election)

5 May 2021 Incumbent 17th

(2021 election)

Interesting Facts and Figures

This section shares some cool statistics about the Chief Ministers and the political parties in West Bengal.

How Long Have Parties Led?

This chart shows which political parties have held the Chief Minister's office for the longest time in West Bengal.

Fraction of time of holding CMO by party in West Bengal (as of September 2025)      Communist Party of India (Marxist) (46.13%)     Indian National Congress (33.88%)     Trinamool Congress (18.24%)     Bangla Congress (1.44%)     Independent (0.34%)

Longest-Serving Leaders

This table lists the Chief Ministers by how long they served in office.

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 Bidhan Chandra Roy INC 12 years, 156 days 14 years, 159 days
3 Mamata Banerjee TMC 14 years, 135 days 14 years, 135 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

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