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List of chief ministers of West Bengal facts for kids

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Chief Minister of West Bengal
Flag of India.svg
Emblem of West Bengal.svg
Seal of West Bengal Government
Photo of Mamata Banerjee
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

Colour key for parties

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

Writers building
Writers' Building, an 18th-century Company-era construction in Kolkata, traditionally served as the office of West Bengal's Chief Minister.
Prafullachandra Ghosh at Writers' Building in 1947
The first Premier of West Bengal since Independence, Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, at Writers' in 1947
Emblem of India
The State Emblem of India. West Bengal has come under President's rule on four occasions, all between 1968 and 1977.
Jyoti Basu - Calcutta 1996-12-21 089 Cropped
With over 23 years in office, Jyoti Basu of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is India's second longest-serving chief minister.
BuddhoBabu
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 Prafullachandra Ghosh at Writers' Building in 1947.jpg Prafulla Chandra Ghosh 15 August 1947 22 January 1948 160 days Provincial Assembly

(1946–52)
(January 1946 election)

Indian National Congress Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari
2 Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy in 1943 (cropped).jpg 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) Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy in 1943 (cropped).jpg 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
PrafullaChandraSen.png
Prafulla Chandra Sen Arambagh East 9 July 1962 28 February 1967 4 years, 234 days
4 Ajoy Mukherjee.jpg Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee Tamluk 1 March 1967 21 November 1967 265 days 4th

(1967 election)

Bangla Congress
(United Front)
(1) photo of Prafulla Chandra Ghosh Prafulla Chandra Ghosh Jhargram 21 November 1967 19 February 1968 90 days
(total: 250 days)
Independent
(Progressive Democratic Front)
Emblem of India.svg Vacant
(President's rule)
N/A 20 February 1968 25 February 1969 1 year, 5 days Dissolved N/A
(4) Ajoy Mukherjee.jpg Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee Tamluk 25 February 1969 16 March 1970 1 year, 19 days 5th
(1969 election)
Bangla Congress
(United Front)
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
(4) Ajoy Mukherjee.jpg 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)
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
(Progressive Democratic Alliance)
Emblem of India.svg Vacant
(President's rule)
N/A 30 April 1977 20 June 1977 51 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, 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 BuddhoBabu.jpg 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 Official Potrait.jpg Mamata Banerjee Bhabanipur 20 May 2011 25 May 2016 12 years, 314 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
No. Name Party Length of term
Longest continuous term Total years of premiership
1 Basu, JyotiJyoti Basu CPI(M) 23 years, 137 days 23 years, 137 days
2 Chandra Roy, BidhanBidhan Chandra Roy INC 12 years, 156 days 14 years, 159 days
3 Banerjee, Mamata Mamata Banerjee AITC 12 years, 314 days 12 years, 314 days
4 Bhattacharya, BuddhadebBuddhadeb Bhattacharya CPI(M) 10 years, 188 days 10 years, 188 days
5 Shankar Ray, SiddharthaSiddhartha Shankar Ray INC 5 years, 41 days 5 years, 41 days
6 Chandra Sen, PrafullaPrafulla Chandra Sen INC 4 years, 234 days 4 years, 234 days
7 Kumar Mukherjee, AjoyAjoy 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 (29 March 2024)

No. Political party Number of Chief ministers Total days of holding CMO
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

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List of chief ministers of West Bengal Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.