The chief minister is the chief executive of the Indian state. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the legislative assembly, the state's governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that she 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.
Since 1963, India has had 18 female chief ministers. The first woman to become chief minister was Sucheta Kripalani of the Indian National Congress, who was sworn in on 2 October 1963 as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. The longest-serving female chief minister was Sheila Dikshit of the Indian National Congress, who served as the chief minister of the National Capital Territory of Delhi and held the office for over fifteen years. Mamata Banerjee of the All India Trinamool Congress served as chief minister of West Bengal and holds the second-longest tenure among female chief ministers. J. Jayalalithaa, from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, served as chief minister of Tamil Nadu and has the third-longest tenure; she remained in office until her death in 2016, becoming the first female chief minister to die while in office. In contrast, V. N. Janaki Ramachandran, also from Tamil Nadu and the same party, had the shortest tenure, serving only 23 days. Only 12 states and 1 union territory in India have had female chief ministers out of 28 states and 3 union territories that have legislative systems.
Rekha Gupta of National Capital Territory of Delhi is the only incumbent female chief minister in India.
Chief ministers
Key
Incumbent chief minister Assassinated or died in office
Resigned Resigned following a no-confidence motion
(1) (2) (1) (5) (1) (5) (1)(1) (1)PortraitNameState/Union territoryTerm of officePolitical partyAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1Sucheta Kripalani(1908–1974)Uttar Pradesh2 October 196313 March 19673 years, 162 daysIndian National Congressrowspan=2 2 Nandini Satpathy(1931–2006)Odisha14 June 197216 December 19764 years, 185 days3Shashikala Kakodkar(1935–2016)Goa12 August 197327 April 19795 years, 258 daysMaharashtrawadi Gomantak Party4Anwara Taimur(1936–2020)Assam6 December 198030 June 1981206 daysIndian National Congress5V. N. Janaki Ramachandran(1923–1996)Tamil Nadu7 January 198830 January 198823 daysAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagamrowspan=6 6J. Jayalalithaa(1948–2016)24 June 199112 May 199614 years, 124 days14 May 200121 September 20012 March 200212 May 200616 May 201127 September 201423 May 20155 December 20167Mayawati( 1956)Uttar Pradesh13 June 199518 October 19957 years, 5 daysBahujan Samaj Partyrowspan=4 21 March 199721 September 19973 May 200229 August 200313 May 200715 March 20128Rajinder Kaur Bhattal( 1945)Punjab21 November 199612 February 199783 daysIndian National Congress9Rabri Devi( 1955)Bihar25 July 199711 February 19997 years, 190 daysRashtriya Janata Dalrowspan=3 9 March 19992 March 200011 March 20006 March 200510Sushma Swaraj(1952–2019)National Capital Territory of Delhi12 October 19983 December 199852 daysBharatiya Janata Party11Sheila Dikshit(1938–2019)3 December 199828 December 201315 years, 25 daysIndian National Congress12Uma Bharti( 1959)Madhya Pradesh8 December 200323 August 2004259 daysBharatiya Janata Partyrowspan=3 13Vasundhara Raje( 1953)Rajasthan8 December 200312 December 200810 years, 7 days13 December 201316 December 201814Mamata Banerjee( 1955)West Bengal20 May 20117 May 202614 years, 353 daysAll India Trinamool Congress15Anandiben Patel( 1941)Gujarat22 May 20147 August 20162 years, 77 daysBharatiya Janata Party16Mehbooba Mufti( 1959)Jammu and Kashmir4 April 201619 June 20182 years, 76 daysJammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party17Atishi( 1981)National Capital Territory of Delhi21 September 202420 February 2025152 daysAam Aadmi Party18Rekha Gupta*( 1974)20 February 2025IncumbentBharatiya Janata Party
Statistics List of female chief ministers by length of term NamePartyLength of termLongest continuous termTotal duration of the chief ministership1Sheila DikshitINC15 years, 25 days15 years, 25 days2Mamata BanerjeeAITC14 years, 353 days14 years, 353 days3J. JayalalithaaAIADMK4 years, 323 days14 years, 124 days4Vasundhara RajeBJP5 years, 4 days10 years, 7 days5Rabri DeviRJD4 years, 360 days7 years, 190 days6MayawatiBSP4 years, 307 days7 years, 5 days7Shashikala KakodkarMGP5 years, 258 days5 years, 258 days8Nandini SatpathyINC4 years, 185 days4 years, 185 days9Sucheta KripalaniINC3 years, 162 days3 years, 162 days10Anandiben PatelBJP2 years, 77 days2 years, 77 days11Mehbooba MuftiJKPDP2 years, 76 days2 years, 76 days12Rekha GuptaBJP13Uma BhartiBJP259 days259 days14Anwara TaimurINC206 days206 days15AtishiAAP152 days152 days16Rajinder Kaur BhattalINC83 days83 days17Sushma SwarajBJP52 days52 days18V. N. Janaki RamachandranAIADMK23 days23 days
See also List of female governors in India List of female chief justices in India List of current Indian chief ministers List of female opposition leaders in India List of female deputy chief ministers in India List of longest-serving Indian chief ministers List of female legislative speakers and chairpersons in India List of female lieutenant governors and administrators in India
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