# List of chief ministers of West Bengal

The chief minister of West Bengal (IAST: Paścim Baṅgēr Mukhya Mantrī) 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 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). 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.
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. 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 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 one of the two female incumbent chief minister in India at present (as per 2024).

## Premiers of West Bengal (1947–50)

Premiers of West Bengal :
| No. | Portrait | Name | Tenure | Tenure | Duration | Assembly (election) | Party | Party | Appointed by (Governor) |
| 1 | | Prafulla Chandra Ghosh | 15 August 1947 | 22 January 1948 | 160 days | Provincial Assembly (1946–52) (January 1946 election) | Indian National Congress | | Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari |
| 2 | | Bidhan Chandra Roy | 23 January 1948 | 26 January 1950 | 2 years, 3 days | Provincial Assembly (1946–52) (January 1946 election) | Indian National Congress | | Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari |

## Chief ministers of West Bengal (1950–present)

| # | Name | Constituency | Tenure | Tenure | Tenure | Assembly (election) | Party | Party |
| 1 | Bidhan Chandra Roy | | 26 January 1950 | 30 March 1952 | 12 years, 156 days | Provincial (1946 election) | Indian National Congress | |
| 1 | Bidhan Chandra Roy | Bowbazar | 31 March 1952 | 5 April 1957 | 12 years, 156 days | 1st (1952 election) | Indian National Congress | |
| 1 | Bidhan Chandra Roy | Bowbazar | 6 April 1957 | 2 April 1962 | 12 years, 156 days | 2nd (1957 election) | Indian National Congress | |
| 1 | Bidhan Chandra Roy | Chowrangee | 3 April 1962 | 1 July 1962 | 12 years, 156 days | 3rd (1962 election) | Indian National Congress | |
| 2 | Prafulla Chandra Sen | Arambagh East | 2 July 1962 | 1 March 1967 | 4 years, 242 days | 3rd (1962 election) | Indian National Congress | |
| 3 | Ajoy Mukherjee | Tamluk | 1 March 1967 | 21 November 1967 | 265 days | 4th (1967 election) | Bangla Congress | |
| 4 | Prafulla Chandra Ghosh | Jhargram | 21 November 1967 | 20 February 1968 | 91 days | 4th (1967 election) | Independent | |
| – | Vacant (President's rule) | N/A | 20 February 1968 | 25 February 1969 | 1 year, 5 days | Dissolved | N/A | N/A |
| 5 | Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee | Tamluk | 25 February 1969 | 19 March 1970 | 1 year, 22 days | 5th (1969 election) | Bangla Congress | |
| – | Vacant (President's rule) | N/A | 19 March 1970 | 30 July 1970 | 1 year, 14 days | 5th (1969 election) | N/A | N/A |
| – | Vacant (President's rule) | N/A | 30 July 1970 | 2 April 1971 | 1 year, 14 days | Dissolved | N/A | N/A |
| 6 | Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee | Tamluk | 2 April 1971 | 29 June 1971 | 88 days | 6th (1971 election) | Indian National Congress | |
| – | Vacant (President's rule) | N/A | 29 June 1971 | 20 March 1972 | 265 days | Dissolved | N/A | N/A |
| 7 | Siddhartha Shankar Ray | Maldah | 20 March 1972 | 30 April 1977 | 5 years, 41 days | 7th (1972 election) | Indian National Congress | |
| – | Vacant (President's rule) | N/A | 30 April 1977 | 21 June 1977 | 52 days | Dissolved | N/A | |
| 8 | Jyoti Basu | Satgachhia | 21 June 1977 | 23 May 1982 | 23 years, 138 days | 8th (1977 election) | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | |
| 8 | Jyoti Basu | Satgachhia | 24 May 1982 | 29 March 1987 | 23 years, 138 days | 9th (1982 election) | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | |
| 8 | Jyoti Basu | Satgachhia | 30 March 1987 | 18 June 1991 | 23 years, 138 days | 10th (1987 election) | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | |
| 8 | Jyoti Basu | Satgachhia | 19 June 1991 | 15 May 1996 | 23 years, 138 days | 11th (1991 election) | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | |
| 8 | Jyoti Basu | Satgachhia | 16 May 1996 | 6 November 2000 | 23 years, 138 days | 12th (1996 election) | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | |
| 9 | Buddhadeb Bhattacharya | Jadavpur | 6 November 2000 | 14 May 2001 | 10 years, 195 days | 12th (1996 election) | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | |
| 9 | Buddhadeb Bhattacharya | Jadavpur | 15 May 2001 | 17 May 2006 | 10 years, 195 days | 13th (2001 election) | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | |
| 9 | Buddhadeb Bhattacharya | Jadavpur | 18 May 2006 | 20 May 2011 | 10 years, 195 days | 14th (2006 election) | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | |
| 10 | Mamata Banerjee | Bhabanipur | 20 May 2011 | 25 May 2016 | 13 years, 296 days | 15th (2011 election) | Trinamool Congress | |
| 10 | Mamata Banerjee | Bhabanipur | 26 May 2016 | 4 May 2021 | 13 years, 296 days | 16th (2016 election) | Trinamool Congress | |
| 10 | Mamata Banerjee | Bhabanipur | 5 May 2021 | Incumbent | 13 years, 296 days | 17th (2021 election) | Trinamool Congress | |

## Statistics

* Communist Party of India (Marxist) 46.13 (46.1%)
* Indian National Congress 33.88 (33.9%)
* Trinamool Congress 18.24 (18.2%)
* Bangla Congress 1.44 (1.44%)
* Independent 0.34 (0.34%)
| No. | Name | Party | Party | Length of term | Length of term |
| No. | Name | Party | Party | Longest continuous term | Total years of premiership |
| 1 | Jyoti Basu | | CPI(M) | 23 years, 137 days | 23 years, 137 days |
| 2 | Bidhan Chandra Roy | | INC | 12 years, 156 days | 14 years, 159 days |
| 3 | Mamata Banerjee | | TMC | 13 years, 296 days | 13 years, 296 days |
| 4 | Buddhadeb Bhattacharya | | CPI(M) | 10 years, 188 days | 10 years, 188 days |
| 5 | Siddhartha Shankar Ray | | INC | 5 years, 41 days | 5 years, 41 days |
| 6 | Prafulla Chandra Sen | | INC | 4 years, 234 days | 4 years, 234 days |
| 7 | Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee | | BC / INC | 1 year, 19 days | 2 years, 6 days |
| 8 | Prafulla Chandra Ghosh | | IND / INC | 160 days | 250 days |