Complete List Of West Bengal Chief Ministers From 1947 Till Date

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May 25, 2021

If you are looking for details of West Bengal chief ministers from 1947 till date, read on. This post has a comprehensive West Bengal CM list, starting from Prafulla Chandra Ghosh to Mamata Banerjee.

In addition to the names of CMs, you can also find other relevant details in this West Bengal chief minister list. These include their tenure, constituency, party, governors during their tenure, details of Presidential Rule in West Bengal, and more.

The post also contains an FAQ section on the current and former West Bengal chief ministers. Want to know who is the first CM of West Bengal? Who is the first women chief minister of the state? Or, who are the longest-serving and shortest-serving chief ministers of West Bengal?

You will find answers to all these questions and more related to West Bengal chief ministers in this post.

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West Bengal CM List From 1947 To Till Date

Here is a complete list of CM of West Bengal, starting from 1947 to date. Besides the names and tenures, it has details of the legislative assembly, party, and constituency of each CM. You can also find the details of governors during their tenure in the West Bengal CM list given below:

Read: State – Wise List Of CM Helpline Numbers And Portals In India

SL NO	Name	Period	Party	Assembly	Constituency	Governor
	Premiers of West Bengal
1st	Prafulla Chandra Ghosh	15 August 1947 to 22 January 1948	Indian National Congress	Provincial Assembly	NA	Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari
2nd	Bidhan Chandra Roy	23 January 1948 to 25 January 1950	Indian National Congress	Provincial Assembly	NA	Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari Kailash Nath Katju
	Chief Ministers of West Bengal
	Bidhan Chandra Roy	26 January 1950 to 30 March 1952	Indian National Congress	Provincial Assembly	Bowbazar	Kailash Nath Katju H. C. Mookerjee
	Bidhan Chandra Roy	31 March 1952 to 5 April 1957	Indian National Congress	1st West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Bowbazar	H. C. Mookerjee Phani Bhusan Chakravartti Padmaja Naidu
	Bidhan Chandra Roy	6 April 1957 to 2 April 1962	Indian National Congress	2nd West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Bowbazar	Padmaja Naidu
	Bidhan Chandra Roy	3 April 1962 to 1 July 1962 (Died in office on 1 July 1962)	Indian National Congress	3rd West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Bowbazar	Padmaja Naidu
	President’s Rule	1 July 1962 to 8 July 1962
3rd	Prafulla Chandra Sen	9 July 1962 to 28 February 1967	Indian National Congress	3rd West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Arambagh East	Padmaja Naidu
4th	Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee	1 March 1967 to 21 November 1967 (Dismissed by the governor on 21 November 1967)	Bangla Congress (United Front)	4th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Tamluk	Padmaja Naidu Dharma Vira
	Prafulla Chandra Ghosh	21 November 1967 to 19 February 1968 (Resigned)	Independent (Progressive Democratic Front)	4th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Jhargram	Dharma Vira
	President’s Rule	20 February 1968 to 25 February 1969
	Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee	25 February 1969 to 16 March 1970 (Resigned)	Bangla Congress (United Front)	5th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Tamluk	Dharma Vira Deep Narayan Sinha (Acting) Shanti Swaroop Dhavan
	President’s Rule	19 March 1970 to 2 April 1971
	Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee	2 April 1971 to 28 June 1971 (Resigned)	Bangla Congress (Democratic Coalition)	6th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Tamluk	Shanti Swaroop Dhavan
	President’s Rule	29 June 1971 to 20 March 1972
5th	Siddhartha Shankar Ray	20 March 1972 to 30 April 1977	Indian National Congress	7th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Malda	A.L. Dias
	President’s Rule	30 April 1977 to 20 June 1977
6th	Jyoti Basu	21 June 1977 to 23 May 1982	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	8th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Satgachhia	A.L. Dias Tribhuvana Narayana Singh Bhairab Dutt Pande
	Jyoti Basu	24 May 1982 to 29 March 1987	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	9th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Satgachhia	Bhairab Dutt Pande Anant Prasad Sharma Satish Chandra (Acting) Uma Shankar Dikshit Saiyid Nurul Hasan
	Jyoti Basu	30 March 1987 to 18 June 1991	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	10th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Satgachhia	Saiyid Nurul Hasan T. V. Rajeswar
	Jyoti Basu	19 June 1991 to 15 May 1996	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	11th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Satgachhia	Saiyid Nurul Hasan B. Satyanarayan Reddy (Additional Charge) K. V. Raghunatha Reddy
	Jyoti Basu	16 May 1996 to 5 November 2000 (Resigned)	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	12th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Satgachhia	K. V. Raghunatha Reddy Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai Shyamal Kumar Sen Viren J. Shah
7th	Buddhadeb Bhattacharya	6 November 2000 to 14 May 2001	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	12th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Jadavpur	Viren J. Shah
	Buddhadeb Bhattacharya	15 May 2001 to 17 May 2006	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	13th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Jadavpur	Viren J. Shah Gopalkrishna Gandhi
	Buddhadeb Bhattacharya	18 May 2006 to 13 May 2011	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	14th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Jadavpur	Gopalkrishna Gandhi Devanand Konwar (Additional Charge) M.K. Narayanan
8th	Mamata Banerjee	20 May 2011 to 25 May 2016	All India Trinamool Congress	15th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Bhabanipur	M.K. Narayanan D. Y. Patil (Acting Charge) Keshari Nath Tripathi
	Mamata Banerjee	26 May 2016 to 4 May 2021	All India Trinamool Congress	16th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Bhabanipur	Keshari Nath Tripathi Jagdeep Dhankhar
	Mamata Banerjee	5 May 2021 to Till Date	All India Trinamool Congress	17th West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Bhabanipur	Jagdeep Dhankhar

President’s Rule In West Bengal

West Bengal came under President’s Rule on five different occasions. The table given below has details of the President’s Rule in West Bengal:

Sl. No	Period	Duration	Reason
1	1 July 1962 to 8 July 1962	7 days	Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy Died in office on 1 July 1962. Article 365 was enacted till the new CM (Prafulla Chandra Sen) was elected.
2	20 February 1968 to 25 February 1969	1 year and 5 days	The incumbent chief minister Prafulla Chandra Ghosh resigned and relinquished his duties.
3	19 March 1970 to 2 April 1971	1 year and 14 days	The coalition government of Bangla Congress and CPI(M) collapsed, leading to the resignation of the CM Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee.
4	29 June 1971 to 20 March 1972	265 days	The Bangla Congress and CPI(M) coalition collapsed again.
5	30 April 1977 to 20 June 1977	51 days	On 30 April 1977, the assembly led by Siddhartha Shankar Ray was dissolved. Until the next CM was elected, the vacant office was brought under President’s Rule.

West Bengal Chief Ministers – An Overview

The current Indian state of West Bengal was formed in August 1947 by partitioning the erstwhile Bengal Province of British India. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh of the Indian National Congress (INC) became the first chief minister of West Bengal on 15 August 1947.

However, you must note here that till January 1950, the office was known as the Prime Minister of West Bengal. So, though Prafulla Chandra Ghosh was the first CM of the state, he was officially referred to as a Prime Minister or Premier of the state.

Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, one of the most renowned chief ministers of West Bengal, succeeded Prafulla Chandra Ghosh. He served the office for over 14 years. When Dr. B.C Roy died in office on 1 July 1962, Prafulla Chandra Sen became the next CM and completed the term.

Between 1967 and 1972, West Bengal witnessed political instability with five periods of President’s Rule and four coalition governments. Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee and Prafulla Chandra Ghosh were the West Bengal chief ministers during this period. In 1972, Siddhartha Shankar Ray (INC) came into power and served his five-year term.

In 1977, the Left Front led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) came into power with Jyoti Basu as the CM of the state. He served the state for over 23 consecutive years, becoming the longest-serving West Bengal CM. He was succeeded by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya of the CPI (M), another noteworthy name in the West Bengal chief minister list.

The 33 plus years of reign by the Left Front came to an end in 2011, when Mamata Banerjee (All India Trinamool Congress) came into power. She is also the first and only woman to become the West Bengal CM. Currently, she is serving her third term as the CM of the state.

Interesting Read

FAQs On West Bengal Chief Ministers

Who was the first chief minister of West Bengal?

Prafulla Chandra Ghosh of the Indian National Congress was the first West Bengal CM. He came into power in 1947. It is important to note that till January 1950, the office of the CM was officially known as the Prime Minister or Premier of West Bengal. So, technically, Prafulla Chandra Ghosh was the first Premier of the state after independence. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy was the first person to become the CM after the office was established.

Who was the first West Bengal CM to die in office?

Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy was the first West Bengal CM to die in office. He died aged 80, on 1 July 1962.

Who is the current chief minister of West Bengal?

Mamata Banerjee (All India Trinamool Congress) is the current chief minister of West Bengal.

Who is the first woman chief minister of West Bengal?

The first woman chief minister of West Bengal is Mamata Banerjee. She is the 8th individual to hold the office and came into power in 2011. Mamata Banerjee is also the only woman CM of West Bengal.

How many times was West Bengal under President’s Rule?

Five times. From 1 July 1962 to 8 July 1962 (first), from 20 February 1968 to 25 February 1969 (second), from 19 March 1970 to 2 April 1971 (third) and 29 June 1971 to 20 March 1972 (fourth), and from 30 April 1977 to 20 June 1977 (fifth).

Who is the longest-serving chief minister of West Bengal?

Jyoti Basu of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is the longest-serving West Bengal CM. He came into power on 21 June 1977 and remained in office till 5 November 2000. The total duration of his tenure is 23 years and 137 days.

How many chief ministers did West Bengal have?

Since its formation in 1947, 8 individuals held the position of West Bengal CM. Here’s the West Bengal CM list:
1. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh
2. Bidhan Chandra Roy
3. Prafulla Chandra Sen
4. Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee
5. Siddhartha Shankar Ray
6. Jyoti Basu
7. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, and
8. Mamata Banerjee
Of these 8 West Bengal chief ministers, all except Prafulla Chandra Sen and Siddhartha Shankar Ray served multiple terms.

Who is the shortest-serving chief minister of West Bengal?

Prafulla Chandra Ghosh is the shortest-serving West Bengal CM. He held the office for 250 days in two terms – 160 days in the first term as the Premier of West Bengal (15 August 1947 to 22 January 1948) and 90 days in the second term (21 November 1967 to 19 February 1968).