The Chief Minister of West Bengal (ISO: Paścimabaṅgera Mukhyamantrī) is the de facto head of the executive branch of the Government of West Bengal, the subnational authority of the Indian state of West Bengal. The chief minister is the head of the Council of Ministers and advises the governor on the appointment of ministers. Along with the council of ministers, the chief minister exercises executive authority in the state. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. The chief minister also serves as the Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly.
On 17 August 1947, the former British Indian province of Bengal was partitioned into the Pakistani province of East Bengal and the Indian state of West Bengal. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh of the Indian National Congress (INC) became the state's first head of government as Premier before the office of chief minister formally came into effect.Modern Bengal A Short History of Bengal. Retrieved 18 April 2009. Following the adoption of the Constitution of India on 26 January 1950, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy became the first Chief Minister of West Bengal. Between 1967 and 1972, West Bengal witnessed a prolonged period of political instability marked by three assembly elections, four coalition governments, and three periods of President's rule.Origin and Growth of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 27 July 2018. Stability returned under Siddhartha Shankar Ray of the INC, who became the first chief minister after this phase to complete a full five-year term.
Since independence, the state has had nine chief ministers.
The victory of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front in the 1977 assembly election marked the beginning of 34 years of uninterrupted Left Front rule in West Bengal. Jyoti Basu served as chief minister for over 23 years, making him the longest-serving chief minister in India at the time; the record was later surpassed in 2018 by Pawan Kumar Chamling of Sikkim."Pawan Kumar Chamling crosses Jyoti Basu's record as longest-serving Chief Minister". The Hindu. 29 April 2018. Archived on 31 July 2018. He was succeeded by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, under whose leadership the Left Front government remained in office until its defeat in the 2011 assembly election.
In the 2011 assembly election, the Trinamool Congress defeated the Left Front, ending its 34-year rule in the state, one of the longest-serving democratically elected Communist governments in the world. The party's leader, Mamata Banerjee, was sworn in on 20 May 2011 as the first woman chief minister of West Bengal. She was subsequently re-elected in the 2016 and 2021 assembly elections.
On 7 May 2026, the Governor of West Bengal, R. N. Ravi, dissolved the 17th Assembly, ending the 15- year tenure of TMC. A 2-day vacancy in the chief ministerships of West Bengal, emerged during this period. However, no proclamation of President's rule was declared. The conclusion of this vacancy came into an effect on 9 May 2026, which the emergence of the government run by Suvendu Adhikari.
In the 2026 assembly election, the Bharatiya Janata Party won a majority in the Legislative Assembly, ending the 15-year tenure of the All India Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal. Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as the first BJP Chief Minister of the state on 9 May 2026, coinciding with the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers, and chief ministers from several NDA-ruled states.
Oath as the state chief minister The chief minister serves five years in the office. The following is the oath of the chief minister of state: Oath of Secrecy "I, [Name], do swear in the name of God / solemnly affirm that I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person or persons any matter which shall be brought under my consideration or shall become known to me as a Minister for the State of [Name of State] except as may be required for the due discharge of my duties as such Minister." Benglish:
"Ami, [Name], Ishwarer name shapath koritechhi / sotto nishthar sohit protigga koritechhi je, ami bidhi dara sthapito Bharat-er Shongbidhaner proti prokrito shrodhha o anugotto poshon koribo; ami Bharat-er sharbobhoumotto o akhandata rakhya koribo; ami [State Name] rajyer mukhhomontri hishebe amar kortobbyo nishtha o bibek-sommoto bhabe palon koribo; ebong ami bhoy ba pokkhopat, anurag ba birag-er urdhw-e uthiya, Shongbidhan o ain onujayi shob prokarer manusher proti naybichar koribo.
"Ami, [Name], Ishwarer name shapath koritechhi / driptobhabe ghoshona koritechhi je, [State Name] rajyer montri hishebe amar bibechanar jonne jaha ona hobe ba jaha amar gochor hobe, taha ami protyokkho ba porokkhobhabe konobyakti ba byaktiborgoke janatbo na ba prokash koribo na; kebolmatro montri hishebe amar kortobbyo suthubhabe paloner jonne jodi taha proyojon hoy, tobei ami taha prokash koribo.
Premiers of West Bengal (1947–1950) # Portrait Name TenurePremiers/Chief Ministers of West Bengal. West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Archive link from 12 March 2016. AssemblyParty 1 Prafulla Chandra Ghosh 15 August 1947 23 January 1948 ProvincialIndian National Congress 2 Bidhan Chandra Roy 23 January 1948 26 January 1950
Chief Ministers of West Bengal (1950–present) Died in office Removed
PortraitNameConstituency FromToTime in office AssemblyPolitical Party Appointed By1 Bidhan Chandra Roy26 January 195030 March 1952Provincial (1946 election)Indian National CongressKailash Nath KatjuBowbazar31 March 19525 April 19571stHarendra Coomar Mookerjee6 April 19572 April 19622ndPadmaja NaiduChowrangee3 April 19621 July 19623rd2Prafulla Chandra SenArambagh2 July 19621 March 19673Ajoy MukherjeeTamluk1 March 196721 November 19674thBangla Congress4Prafulla Chandra GhoshJhargram21 November 196720 February 1968IndependentDharma ViraVacant (President's rule)N/A20 February 196825 February 1969DissolvedN/A(3)Ajoy Kumar MukherjeeTamluk25 February 196930 July 19705thBangla CongressDharma ViraVacant (President's rule)N/A30 July 19702 April 1971DissolvedN/A(3)Ajoy Kumar MukherjeeTamluk2 April 197129 June 19716thBangla CongressShanti Swaroop Dhawan Vacant (President's rule)N/A29 June 197120 March 1972DissolvedN/A5Siddhartha Shankar RayMaldaha 20 March 197230 April 19777thIndian National CongressAnthony Lancelot DiasVacant (President's rule)N/A30 April 197721 June 1977DissolvedN/A6Jyoti BasuSatgachhia21 June 197723 May 19828thCommunist Party of India (Marxist)Anthony Lancelot Dias24 May 198229 March 19879thBhairab Dutt Pande30 March 198718 June 199110thSaiyid Nurul Hasan19 June 199115 May 199611th16 May 19966 November 200012thK. V. Raghunatha Reddy 7Buddhadeb BhattacharyaJadavpur6 November 200014 May 2001Viren J. Shah15 May 200117 May 200613th18 May 200620 May 201114thGopalkrishna Gandhi 8Mamata Banerjee Bhabanipur 20 May 201125 May 201615thTrinamool CongressM. K. Narayanan Bhabanipur26 May 20164 May 202116thKeshari Nath Tripathi Bhabanipur 5 May 20217 May 202617thJagdeep DhankarVacant Governor's RuleN/A7 May 20269 May 2026DissolvedN/A9 Suvendu Adhikari Bhabanipur 9 May 2026Incumbent18thBharatiya Janata PartyR. N. Ravi
Chief ministerial constituencies of West Bengal
Indicator Meaning Multiple entry Constituency has been represented by more than one Chief Ministerial tenure/entry. + Current Chief Minister's constituency. Longest serving Constituency with the longest continuous Chief Ministerial representation.
# Constituency Political Parties Chief Minister From To Time in office Notes 1 Bowbazar Indian National Congress Bidhan Chandra Roy 31 March 1952 5 April 1957 5 years, 5 days 2 Bowbazar Indian National Congress Bidhan Chandra Roy 6 April 1957 2 April 1962 4 years, 361 days 3 Chowrangee Indian National Congress Bidhan Chandra Roy 3 April 1962 1 July 1962 89 days 4 Arambagh Indian National Congress Prafulla Chandra Sen 2 July 1962 1 March 1967 4 years, 242 days 5 Tamluk Bangla Congress Ajoy Mukherjee 1 March 1967 21 November 1967 265 days 6 Jhargram Independent Prafulla Chandra Ghosh 21 November 1967 20 February 1968 91 days 7 Tamluk Bangla Congress Ajoy Mukherjee 25 February 1969 30 July 1970 1 year, 155 days 8 Tamluk Indian National Congress Ajoy Mukherjee 2 April 1971 29 June 1971 88 days 9 Maldaha Indian National Congress Siddhartha Shankar Ray 20 March 1972 30 April 1977 5 years, 41 days 10 Satgachhia Communist Party of India (Marxist) Jyoti Basu 21 June 1977 6 November 2000 23 years, 138 days Longest continuous period 11 Jadavpur Communist Party of India (Marxist) Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee 6 November 2000 20 May 2011 10 years, 195 days 12 Bhabanipur Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee 20 May 2011 7 May 2026 14 years, 352 days Multiple CM entry 13 + Bhabanipur Bharatiya Janata Party Suvendu Adhikari 9 May 2026 Incumbent Multiple CM entry; current constituency
Statistics
Timeline of Chief Minister # Name Political Party Time in office Longest tenure Total tenure 1 Jyoti Basu CPI(M) 2 Mamata Banerjee TMC 3 Buddhadeb Bhattacharya CPI(M) 4 Bidhan Chandra Roy INC 5 Siddhartha Shankar Ray INC 6 Prafulla Chandra Sen INC 7 Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee BC / INC 2 years, 139 days 8 Suvendu Adhikari BJP 9 Prafulla Chandra Ghosh IND 91 days Total duration of President's rule: 930 days (approximately 2 years and 200 days)
Timeline of political parties #Political party Tenure1Communist Party of India (Marxist)2 Trinamool Congress 3Indian National Congress 4Indian National Congress 5Bangla Congress 6Bangla Congress 7Independent8Indian National Congress 9Bharatiya Janata Party
Timeline of alliances (national) #Alliance Tenure1INDIA2INDIA3INDIA4INDIA5None6INDIA7NDA
Footnotes
References
See also History of Bengal Bengal Presidency List of rulers of Bengal Prime Minister of Bengal History of West Bengal List of governors of West Bengal List of deputy chief ministers of West Bengal List of West Bengal ministries West Bengal Legislative Assembly Elections in West Bengal Chief Minister (India)
Further reading
"Left Front Government of Bengal: A Saga of Struggle" – a political history of West Bengal from the CPI(M)'s point of view