The chief minister of the National Capital Territory of Delhi is the head of government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. According to the Constitution of India, the lieutenant governor is the National Capital Territory of Delhi's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with its chief minister. Following elections to the Delhi Legislative Assembly, the lieutenant governor usually invites the party with a majority of seats to form the government. The president of India, on the advice of the lieutenant governor, appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that the person has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th Edition, 2011 Reprint. pp. 241, 245. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. . Note: although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies to the specific case of Telangana as well. Rekha Gupta is the incumbent chief minister since February 2025.
History Since 1952, the National Capital Territory of Delhi has had 7 chief ministers, starting with the Indian National Congress party's Chaudhary Brahm Prakash. The office of the chief minister was abolished for 37 years after the States Reorganisation Act of 1956. In 1991, growing demand for self-governance led to the 69th Amendment to the Indian Constitution which granted Delhi National Capital Territory (NCT) status and an elected legislature. First election after 37 years was held in November 1993 and Madan Lal Khurana of Bharatiya Janata Party was sworn in as the chief minister. The longest-serving chief minister, Sheila Dikshit from the Indian National Congress party, held the office for over fifteen years. On 28 December 2013, Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party sworn in as first state party chief minister of the national capital territory. There has been one instance of president's rule in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, most recently in 2015.
Official residence Since 2014, the Chief Minister has resided at Bungalow 6 at Flagstaff Road in North Delhi. The location is close to the Delhi Secretariat.
Chief ministers of Delhi (1952-present) NoPortraitNameConstituencyTerm of officeAssemblyParty1Brahm PrakashNangloi Jat17 March 195212 February 1955InterimIndian National Congress2Gurmukh Nihal SinghDaryaganj12 February 19551 November 1956Office abolished (1 November 1956 – 1 December 1993)3Madan Lal KhuranaMoti Nagar2 December 199326 February 19961stBharatiya Janata Party4Sahib Singh VermaShalimar Bagh26 February 199612 October 19985Sushma SwarajNot Contested12 October 19983 December 19986Sheila DikshitNew Delhi3 December 19982 December 20032ndIndian National Congress2 December 200330 November 20083rd30 November 200828 December 20134th7Arvind KejriwalNew Delhi28 December 201314 February 20145thAam Aadmi Party–Vacant(President's rule)–14 February 201414 February 2015Dissolved–(7) Arvind KejriwalNew Delhi14 February 201516 February 20206thAam Aadmi Party16 February 202021 September 20247th8Atishi MarlenaKalkaji21 September 202420 February 2025 9Rekha GuptaShalimar Bagh20 February 2025Incumbent 8thBharatiya Janata Party
Statistics List of chief ministers by length of term #NamePartyLength of termLongest tenureTotal tenure1Sheila DikshitINC15 years, 25 days15 years, 25 days2Arvind KejriwalAAP9 years, 218 days9 years, 266 days3Brahm ParkashINC2 years, 332 days2 years, 332 days4Sahib Singh VermaBJP2 years, 228 days2 years, 228 days5Madan Lal KhuranaBJP2 years, 86 days2 years, 86 days6Gurmukh Nihal SinghINC1 year, 263 days1 year, 263 days7Rekha GuptaBJP8Atishi MarlenaAAP152 days152 days9Sushma SwarajBJP52 days52 days
List by party +Political parties by total time-span of their member holding CMO ( )No.Political partyNumber of chief ministersTotal days of holding CMO1Indian National Congress3 days2Aam Aadmi Party2 days3Bharatiya Janata Party4 days
Parties by total duration (in days) of holding Chief Minister's Office
Oath “I, A.B., do swear in the name of God that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, 1 [that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India,] that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as a Minister for the State of ..........and that I will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.”
See also List of current Indian chief ministers List of lieutenant governors of the National Capital Territory of Delhi List of deputy chief ministers of the National Capital Territory of Delhi
Notes
References
External links
Official Website of the Chief Minister Office