The chief minister of Assam, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Assam. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Assam Legislative Assembly, the 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 he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.[1]
| Chief Minister of Assam | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Status | Head of Government |
| Abbreviation | CM |
| Member of | Assam Legislative Assembly& Assam Council of Ministers |
| Reports to | Governor of Assam |
| Appointer | Governor of Assam |
| Term length | At the confidence of the assembly five years and is subject to no term limits.[1] |
| Precursor | Premier of Assam |
| Inaugural holder | Gopinath Bordoloi |
| Formation | 26 January 1950 |
| Deputy | Deputy Chief Minister of Assam |
Since 1946, Assam has had 17 chief ministers. Ten of these belonged to the Indian National Congress, including Gopinath Bordoloi, the first Chief Minister of Assam, and Anwara Taimur, India's first female Muslim chief minister. Congress monopoly in the state was brought to an end when Golap Borbora led the Janata party to victory in the 1978 assembly elections. Borbora consequently became the first non congress Chief Minister of Assam. Prior to that, Borbora was the first member of the non congress opposition to be elected as a Rajya Sabha member from Assam. Congressman Tarun Gogoi is the longest-serving officeholder, having served for 15 years from 2001 to 2016. Sarbananda Sonowal became the Assam's first chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party, when he was sworn in on 24 May 2016. On 9 May 2021, Himanta Biswa Sarma is announced as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam.[2]
- Top left: Gopinath Bordoloi was the first chief minister of Assam.
- Top center: Anwara Taimur was the first and only woman to serve as chief Minister.
- Top right: Golap Borbora was the first non-Congress chief minister.
- Bottom left: Prafulla Kumar Mahanta was the first non-Congress chief minister to complete a full 5 year term and the only non-Congress chief minister to date to have served on two occasions.
- Bottom center: Tarun Gogoi was the longest serving chief minister for 15 years.
- Bottom right: Himanta Biswa Sarma is the current chief minister.
Prime Ministers (1937-50)
editUnder the Government of India Act 1935, a bicameral legislature was set up with a legislative assembly and a legislative council. The premier of Assam was the head of the government and leader of the legislative assembly of Assam Province.
| #[a] | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Term of office[3] | Assembly | Party[b]
(coalition) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Muhammed Saadulah | Kamrup (South) | 1 April 1937 | 19 September
1938 |
1 year, 171 days | 1st
Provincial |
Assam Valley Party
(INC) |
|
| 2 | 
|
Gopinath Bordoloi | Kamrup Sadar (South) | 19 September
1938 |
17 November
1939 |
1 year, 59 days | Indian National Congress | ||
| (1) |
|
Muhammed Saadulah | Kamrup (South) | 17 November
1939 |
24 December 1941 | 2 years, 37 days | Assam Valley Party
(AIML) |
||
| - | - | Vacant
(Governor's Rule) |
- | 25 December 1941 | 24 August 1942 | 242 days | Dissolved | N/A | |
| (1) |
|
Muhammed Saadulah | Kamrup (South) | 25 August 1942 | 11 February 1946 | 3 years, 170 days | 1st
Provincial |
Assam Valley Party
(AIML) |
|
| (2) |
|
Gopinath Bordoloi | Kamrup Sadar (South) | 11 February 1946 | 25 January 1950 | 3 years, 349 days | 2nd Provincial | Indian National Congress | |
Chief Ministers
editNote: † Died in office
| #[c] | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Term of office[4] | Assembly | Party[d] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Gopinath Bordoloi | Kamrup Sadar (South) | 26 January 1950 | 6 August 1950 | 192 days | 2nd Provincial | Indian National Congress | |
| 2 | 
|
Bishnuram Medhi | Hajo | 9 August 1950 | 28 December 1957 | 7 years, 141 days | |||
| 1st | |||||||||
| 2nd | |||||||||
| 3 | Bimala Prasad Chaliha | Badarpur | 28 December 1957 | 11 November 1970 | 12 years, 318 days | ||||
| Sonari | 3rd | ||||||||
| 4th | |||||||||
| 4 | Mahendra Mohan Choudhry | Guwahati East | 11 November 1970 | 31 January 1972 | 1 year, 81 days | ||||
| 5 | 
|
Sarat Chandra Sinha | Bilasipara East | 31 January 1972 | 12 March 1978 | 6 years, 40 days | 5th | ||
| 6 | 
|
Golap Borbora | Tinsukia | 12 March 1978 | 9 September 1979 | 1 year, 181 days | 6th | Janata Party | |
| 7 | 
|
Jogendra Nath Hazarika | Duliajan | 9 September 1979 | 11 December 1979 | 93 days | |||
| – | 
|
Vacant[e] | N/A | 12 December 1979 | 5 December 1980 | 359 days | N/A | ||
| 8 | Anwara Taimur | Dalgaon | 6 December 1980 | 30 June 1981 | 206 days | Indian National Congress | |||
| – |
|
Vacant[e] | N/A | 30 June 1981 | 13 January 1982 | 197 days | N/A | ||
| 9 | Kesab Chandra Gogoi | Dibrugarh | 13 January 1982 | 19 March 1982 | 65 days | Indian National Congress | |||
| – |
|
Vacant[e] | N/A | 19 March 1982 | 27 February 1983 | 345 days | Dissolved | N/A | |
| 10 | .jpg)
|
Hiteswar Saikia | Nazira | 27 February 1983 | 24 December 1985 | 2 years, 300 days | 7th | Indian National Congress | |
| 11 | ,_Dr._Mahesh_Sharma,_in_New_Delhi_on_July_20,_2017_(cropped).jpg)
|
Prafulla Kumar Mahanta | Nowgong | 24 December 1985 | 28 November 1990 | 4 years, 339 days | 8th | Asom Gana Parishad | |
| – |
|
Vacant[e] | N/A | 28 November 1990 | 30 June 1991 | 214 days | Dissolved | N/A | |
| (10) |
|
Hiteswar Saikia | Nazira | 30 June 1991 | 22 April 1996[†] | 4 years, 297 days | 9th | Indian National Congress | |
| 12 | .jpg)
|
Bhumidhar Barman | Barkhetry | 22 April 1996 | 15 May 1996 | 23 days | |||
| (11) |
|
Prafulla Kumar Mahanta | Barhampur | 15 May 1996 | 18 May 2001 | 5 years, 3 days | 10th
(1996 election) |
Asom Gana Parishad | |
| 13 | 
|
Tarun Gogoi | Titabar | 18 May 2001 | 24 May 2016 | 15 years, 6 days | 11th
(2001 election) |
Indian National Congress | |
| 12th | |||||||||
| 13th | |||||||||
| 14 | .jpg)
|
Sarbananda Sonowal | Majuli | 24 May 2016 | 10 May 2021 | 4 years, 351 days | 14th | Bharatiya Janata Party | |
| 15 |
|
Himanta Biswa Sarma | Jalukbari | 10 May 2021 | Incumbent | 3 years, 190 days | 15th | ||
Timeline
editFraction of time of holding Chief minister's office by party (as of October 2024)
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ A parenthetical number indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
- ^ This column only names the chief minister's party. The state government he heads may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.
- ^ A parenthetical number indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
- ^ This column only names the chief minister's party. The state government he heads may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.
- ^ a b c d When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b 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 Assam as well.
- ^ "Himanta Biswa Sarma Crowned 15th Chief Minister Of Assam". Pratidin Time. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ Chief Ministers Archived 16 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine from the Assam Assembly website
- ^ Chief Ministers Archived 16 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine from the Assam Assembly website
- ^ Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005. Retrieved on 3 March 2013.