List of chief ministers of West Bengal facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Chief Minister of West Bengal |
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![]() Seal of West Bengal Government
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Chief Minister's Office | |
Style | The Honorable Madam Chief Minister Her Excellency |
Abbreviation | CM |
Member of |
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Reports to | Governor of West Bengal |
Residence | Chief Minister Abas, Kolkata |
Seat | Nabanna, Howrah |
Appointer | Governor of West Bengal |
Term length | At the confidence of the assembly
Chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.
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Inaugural holder | Prafulla Chandra Ghosh as premier, Bidhan Chandra Ray as chief minister |
Formation | 15 August 1947 (as Prime Minister of West Bengal) |
Deputy | Deputy chief minister (vacant) |
Salary |
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Website | http://wbcmo.gov.in/ |
The Chief Minister of West Bengal is the representative of the Government of India in the state of West Bengal and the head of the executive branch of the Government 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.
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 eight chief ministers, starting with Prafulla Chandra Ghosh of the Indian National Congress (INC) party as the premier. A period of political instability followed—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.
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. Basu's successor Buddhadeb Bhattacharya continued Communist rule in West Bengal for another decade, when the Left Front was defeated in the 2011 election by the All India Trinamool Congress. Sworn in on 20 May 2011, Trinamool 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. Mamata Banerjee's TMC got a landslide win in 2021 assembly elections, securing 215 assembly seats out of 292.
Contents
Key
Colour key for parties |
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All India Trinamool Congress Indian National Congress Bangla Congress Communist Party of India (Marxist) Independent N/A (President's rule) |




Premiers of West Bengal (1947–50)
No. | Portrait | Name | Tenure | Duration | Assembly (election) |
Party | Appointed
by (Governor) |
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1 | ![]() |
Prafulla Chandra Ghosh | 15 August 1947 | 22 January 1948 | 160 days | Provincial Assembly
(1946–52) |
Indian National Congress | Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari | |
2 | ![]() |
Bidhan Chandra Roy | 23 January 1948 | 25 January 1950 | 2 years, 2 days |
Chief Ministers of West Bengal (1950–present)
No. | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Tenure | Duration | Assembly (election) |
Party (alliance) |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(2) | ![]() |
Bidhan Chandra Roy |
26 January 1950 | 30 March 1952 | 12 years, 156 days (total: 14 years, 159 days) |
Provincial Assembly (1946 election) |
Indian National Congress | ||
Bowbazar | 31 March 1952 | 5 April 1957 | 1st
(1952 election) |
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6 April 1957 | 2 April 1962 | 2nd
(1957 election) |
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Chowrangee | 3 April 1962 | 1 July 1962 | 3rd (1962 election) |
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3 | Prafulla Chandra Sen | Arambagh East | 9 July 1962 | 28 February 1967 | 4 years, 234 days | ||||
4 | ![]() |
Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee | Tamluk | 1 March 1967 | 21 November 1967 | 265 days | 4th
(1967 election) |
Bangla Congress (United Front) |
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(1) | ![]() |
Prafulla Chandra Ghosh | Jhargram | 21 November 1967 | 19 February 1968 | 90 days (total: 250 days) |
Independent (Progressive Democratic Front) |
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– | ![]() |
Vacant (President's rule) |
N/A | 20 February 1968 | 25 February 1969 | 1 year, 5 days | Dissolved | N/A | |
(4) | ![]() |
Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee | Tamluk | 25 February 1969 | 16 March 1970 | 1 year, 19 days | 5th (1969 election) |
Bangla Congress (United Front) |
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– | ![]() |
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 | |||||||
(4) | ![]() |
Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee | Tamluk | 2 April 1971 | 28 June 1971 | 87 days (total: 2 years, 6 days) |
6th
(1971 election) |
Indian National Congress (Democratic Coalition) |
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– | ![]() |
Vacant (President's rule) |
N/A | 29 June 1971 | 20 March 1972 | 265 days | Dissolved | N/A | |
5 | Siddhartha Shankar Ray | Maldah | 20 March 1972 | 30 April 1977 | 5 years, 41 days | 7th
(1972 election) |
Indian National Congress (Progressive Democratic Alliance) |
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– | ![]() |
Vacant (President's rule) |
N/A | 30 April 1977 | 20 June 1977 | 51 days | Dissolved | N/A | |
6 | ![]() |
Jyoti Basu | Satgachhia | 21 June 1977 | 23 May 1982 | 23 years, 137 days | 8th
(1977 election) |
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (Left Front) |
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24 May 1982 | 29 March 1987 | 9th
(1982 election) |
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30 March 1987 | 18 June 1991 | 10th
(1987 election) |
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19 June 1991 | 15 May 1996 | 11th
(1991 election) |
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16 May 1996 | 5 November 2000 | 12th
(1996 election) |
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7 | ![]() |
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya | Jadavpur | 6 November 2000 | 14 May 2001 | 10 years, 188 days | |||
15 May 2001 | 17 May 2006 | 13th
(2001 election) |
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18 May 2006 | 13 May 2011 | 14th (2006 election) |
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8 | ![]() |
Mamata Banerjee | Bhabanipur | 20 May 2011 | 25 May 2016 | 12 years, 133 days | 15th
(2011 election) |
All India Trinamool Congress | |
26 May 2016 | 4 May 2021 | 16th
(2016 election) |
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5 May 2021 | Incumbent | 17th
(2021 election) |
Statistics
- List of Chief Ministers by length of term
No. | Name | Party | Length of term | ||
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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 | AITC | 12 years, 133 days | 12 years, 133 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 | 1 year, 19 days | 2 years, 6 days | |
8 | Prafulla Chandra Ghosh | Independent | 160 days | 250 days |
Political parties by total time-span of their member holding CMO (30 September 2023)
No. | Political party | Number of Chief ministers | Total days of holding CMO | |
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1 | CPI(M) | 2 | 12,379 days | |
2 | INC | 3 | 8,196 days | |
3 | TMC | 1 | 4056 days | |
4 | BC | 1 | 649 days | |
5 | IND | 1 | 90 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
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