Global InformationList of chief ministers of West Bengal information
| Chief Minister of West Bengal | |
|---|---|
| পশ্চিমবঙ্গের মুখ্যমন্ত্রী | |
 Seal of the State of West Bengal | |
 Mamata Banerjee since 20 May 2011 | |
| |
| Style |
|
| Type | Head of Government |
| Status | Leader of the Executive |
| Abbreviation | CM |
| Member of |
|
| Reports to |
|
| Residence | 30-B, Harish Chatterjee Street, Kolkata[1] |
| Seat | Nabanna, Howrah[a] |
| Nominator | Members of the Government of West Bengal in West Bengal Legislative Assembly |
| Appointer | Governor of West Bengal by convention based on appointees ability to command confidence in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly |
| Term length | At the confidence of the assembly Chief Minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.[3] |
| Precursor | Prime Minister of Bengal |
| Inaugural holder | Prafulla Chandra Ghosh as Premier Bidhan Chandra Ray as Chief Minister |
| Formation | 15 August 1947 |
| Deputy | Deputy Chief Minister (vacant) |
| Salary |
|
| Website | CMO West Bengal |
The Chief Minister of West Bengal (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গের মুখ্যমন্ত্রী) is the 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 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 seven chief ministers, starting with Prafulla Chandra Ghosh of the Indian National Congress (INC) party as the premier (elected to lead the assembly while the chief minister is not appointed).[4] Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy in 1950 became the first formal Chief Minister of West Bengal after the implementation of the Indian Constitution. A period of political instability followed thereafter—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.[5]
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.[6] Basu's successor Buddhadeb Bhattacharya continued the communist rule in West Bengal for another decade, when the Left Front was defeated in the 2011 election by the All India Trinamool Congress, thereby ending the 34-year long rule of the Left Front government, a fact that was noted by the international media. Sworn in on 20 May 2011, Trinamool Congress 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. She is the only female incumbent Chief Minister in India at present.
- ^ Arshad Ali. "Mamata may move to new CM's residence – British-era bungalow". The Indian Express. 8 October 2013. Archived on 19 July 2014.
- ^ Shiv Sahay Singh. "Mamata shifts office to Nabanna". The Hindu. 6 October 2013. Archived on 21 December 2016.
- ^ Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th Edition, 2011 Reprint. pp. 241, 245. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. ISBN 978-81-8038-559-9. Note: Although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies for the specific case of West Bengal as well.
- ^ Modern Bengal A Short History of Bengal. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
- ^ Origin and Growth of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Retrieved on 27 July 2018.
Note: In case of an error, please click the "Origin & Growth" button in the top left of the website. - ^ "Pawan Kumar Chamling crosses Jyoti Basu’s record as longest-serving Chief Minister ". The Hindu. 29 April 2018.Archived on 31 July 2018.
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