List of chief ministers of West Bengal facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chief Minister of West Bengal
Flag of India
Seal of West Bengal Government
Incumbent Mamata Banerjee since 20 May 2011
Chief Minister's Office
Style	The Honorable Madam Chief Minister Her Excellency
Abbreviation	CM
Member of	Cabinet West Bengal Legislative Assembly
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.
Inaugural holder	Prafulla Chandra Ghosh as premier, Bidhan Chandra Ray as chief minister
Formation	15 August 1947 (76 years ago) (1947-08-15) (as Prime Minister of West Bengal)
Deputy	Deputy chief minister (vacant)
Salary	117,000 (US$2,000)/monthly 1,404,000 (US$24,000)/annually
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.

Key

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 second longest-serving chief minister.

Basu's successor Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who served for over 10 years

Premiers of West Bengal (1947–50)

Premiers of West Bengal

No.	Portrait	Name	Tenure		Duration	Assembly (election)	Party		Appointed by (Governor)
1		Prafulla Chandra Ghosh	15 August 1947	22 January 1948	160 days	Provincial Assembly (1946–52) (January 1946 election)	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)

Chief ministers of West Bengal

No.	Portrait	Name	Constituency	Tenure		Duration	Assembly (election)	Party (alliance)
(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)
				6 April 1957	2 April 1962		2nd (1957 election)
			Chowrangee	3 April 1962	1 July 1962		3rd (1962 election)
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)
(1)		Prafulla Chandra Ghosh	Jhargram	21 November 1967	19 February 1968	90 days (total: 250 days)		Independent (Progressive Democratic Front)
–		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)
–		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)
–		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)
–		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)
				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	5 November 2000		12th (1996 election)
7		Buddhadeb Bhattacharya	Jadavpur	6 November 2000	14 May 2001	10 years, 188 days
				15 May 2001	17 May 2006		13th (2001 election)
				18 May 2006	13 May 2011		14th (2006 election)
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)
				5 May 2021	Incumbent		17th (2021 election)

Statistics

List of Chief Ministers by length of term

Political parties by total time-span of their member holding CMO (30 September 2023)

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