List of Chief Ministers of Assam

Chief Minister of Assam
Incumbent
Sarbananda Sonowal

since 24 May 2016
Appointer Governor of Assam
Inaugural holder Gopinath Bordoloi
Formation 11 February 1946

The Chief Minister of Assam, a northeast 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]

Since 1946, Assam has had 14 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 held the distinction of being 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. Current incumbent Sarbananda Sonowal became the Assam's first chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party when he was sworn-in on 24 May 2016.

Chief Ministers of Assam

Assam's longest-serving chief minister, Tarun Gogoi of the Indian National Congress
No Name Term of office[2] Party[lower-alpha 1] Days in office
1 Gopinath Bordoloi 11 February 1946 6 August 1950 Indian National Congress 1,638
2 Bishnu Ram Medhi
MLA for Hajo
9 August 1950 27 December 1957 2,698
3 Bimala Prasad Chaliha
MLA for Sonari
28 December 1957 6 November 1970 4,696
4 Mahendra Mohan Choudhry
MLA for Gauhati East
11 November 1970 30 January 1972 446
5 Sarat Chandra Sinha
MLA for Kokrajhar East
31 January 1972 12 March 1978 2,232
6 Golap Borbora
MLA for Tinsukia
12 March 1978 4 September 1979 Janata Party 542
7 Jogendra Nath Hazarika
MLA for Duliajan
9 September 1979 11 December 1979 94
Vacant[lower-alpha 2]
(President's rule)
12 December 1979 5 December 1980 N/A 359
8 Anwara Taimur
MLA for Dalgaon
6 December 1980 30 June 1981 Indian National Congress 207
Vacant[lower-alpha 2]
(President's rule)
30 June 1981 13 January 1982 N/A 197
9 Kesab Chandra Gogoi
MLA for Dibrugarh
13 January 1982 19 March 1982 Indian National Congress 66
Vacant[lower-alpha 2]
(President's rule)
19 March 1982 27 February 1983 N/A 345
10 Hiteswar Saikia
MLA for Nazira
27 February 1983 23 December 1985 Indian National Congress 1,031
11 Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
MLA for Nowgong
24 December 1985 28 November 1990 Asom Gana Parishad 1,799
Vacant[lower-alpha 2]
(President's rule)
28 November 1990 30 June 1991 N/A 214
(10) Hiteswar Saikia [2]
MLA for Nazira
30 June 1991 22 April 1996 Indian National Congress [Total 2,788] 1,757
12 Bhumidhar Barman
MLA for Barkhetry
22 April 1996 14 May 1996 23
(11) Prafulla Kumar Mahanta [2]
MLA for Barhampur
15 May 1996 17 May 2001 Asom Gana Parishad [Total 3,628] 1,829
13 Tarun Gogoi
MLA for Titabar
17 May 2001 24 May 2016 Indian National Congress 5,485
14 Sarbananda Sonowal
MLA for Majuli
24 May 2016 Incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party 879
Notes
  1. 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.
  2. 1 2 3 4 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.[3]

See also

References

  1. 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.
  2. Chief Ministers Archived 16 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine. from the Assam Assembly website
  3. Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005. Retrieved on 3 March 2013.

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