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 |
| 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.
| # | Portrait | Chief Minister (Lifespan) Constituency | Term of office | Election (Term) | Party | Appointed by (Governor) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Sir Syed Muhammed Saadulah (1885–1955) MLA for Kamrup (South) | 1 April 1937 | 19 September 1938 | 1 year, 171 days | 1937 (1st Provincial) | Assam Valley Party | Sir Robert Reid | |
| 2 |  | Gopinath Bordoloi (1890–1950) MLA for Kamrup Sadar (South) | 19 September 1938 | 17 November 1939 | 1 year, 59 days | Indian National Congress | Sir Henry Joseph Twynam (Acting) | ||
| (1) | | Sir Syed Muhammed Saadulah (1885–1955) MLA for Kamrup (South) | 17 November 1939 | 24 December 1941 | 2 years, 37 days | Assam Valley Party | Sir Robert Reid | ||
| Governor's rule was imposed during this period (25 December 1941 – 24 August 1942) | |||||||||
| (1) | | Sir Syed Muhammed Saadulah (1885–1955) MLA for Kamrup (South) | 25 August 1942 | 11 February 1946 | 3 years, 170 days | – (1st Provincial) | Assam Valley Party | Sir Andrew Clow | |
| (2) | | Gopinath Bordoloi (1890–1950) MLA for Kamrup Sadar (South) | 11 February 1946 | 26 January 1950 | 3 years, 349 days | 1946 (2nd Provincial) | Indian National Congress | ||
Chief Ministers
editNote: † Died in office
| # | Portrait | Chief Minister (Lifespan) Constituency | Term of office | Election (Term) | Party | Government | Appointed by (Governor) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | Gopinath Bordoloi (1890–1950) MLA for Kamrup Sadar (South) | 26 January 1950 | 6 August 1950[†] | 192 days | 1946 (Provincial) | Indian National Congress | Bordoloi | Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari | |
| 2 |  | Bishnuram Medhi (1888–1981) MLA for Hajo | 9 August 1950 | 27 December 1957 | 7 years, 140 days | Medhi I | ||||
| 1952 (1st) | Medhi II | Jairamdas Daulatram | ||||||||
| 3 | Bimala Prasad Chaliha (1912–1971) MLA for Badarpur, until 1962 MLA for Sonari, from 1962 | 27 December 1957 | 6 November 1970 | 12 years, 314 days | 1957 (2nd) | Chaliha I | Saiyid Fazal Ali | |||
| 1962 (3rd) | Chaliha II | General (Retd.) S. M. Shrinagesh | ||||||||
| 1967 (4th) | Chaliha III | Vishnu Sahay | ||||||||
| 4 | Mahendra Mohan Choudhry (1908–1982) MLA for Gauhati East | 6 November 1970 | 30 January 1972 | 1 year, 85 days | Choudhry | Braj Kumar Nehru | ||||
| 5 |  | Sarat Chandra Sinha (1914–2005) MLA for Bilasipara East | 31 January 1972 | 12 March 1978 | 6 years, 40 days | 1972 (5th) | Sinha | |||
| 6 |  | Golap Borbora (1926–2006) MLA for Tinsukia | 12 March 1978 | 4 September 1979 | 1 year, 176 days | 1978 (6th) | Janata Party | Borbora | Lallan Prasad Singh | |
| 7 |  | Jogendra Nath Hazarika (1924–1998) MLA for Duliajan | 9 September 1979 | 11 December 1979 | 93 days | Hazarika | ||||
| President's rule was imposed during this period (12 December 1979 – 5 December 1980) | ||||||||||
| 8 | Anwara Taimur (1936–2020) MLA for Dalgaon | 6 December 1980 | 30 June 1981 | 206 days | – (6th) | Indian National Congress | Taimur | Lallan Prasad Singh | ||
| President's rule was imposed during this period (30 June 1981 – 13 January 1982) | ||||||||||
| 9 | Kesab Chandra Gogoi (1925–1998) MLA for Dibrugarh | 13 January 1982 | 19 March 1982 | 65 days | – (6th) | Indian National Congress | Kesab | Prakash Mehrotra | ||
| President's rule was imposed during this period (19 March 1982 – 27 February 1983) | ||||||||||
| 10 | .jpg) | Hiteswar Saikia (1934–1996) MLA for Nazira | 27 February 1983 | 23 December 1985 | 2 years, 299 days | 1983 (7th) | Indian National Congress | Saikia I | Prakash Mehrotra | |
| 11 | ,_Dr._Mahesh_Sharma,_in_New_Delhi_on_July_20,_2017_(cropped).jpg) | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta (born 1952) MLA for Nowgong | 24 December 1985 | 28 November 1990 | 4 years, 339 days | 1985 (8th) | Asom Gana Parishad | Mahanta I | Bhishma Narain Singh | |
| President's rule was imposed during this period (28 November 1990 – 30 June 1991) | ||||||||||
| (10) | | Hiteswar Saikia (1934–1996) MLA for Nazira | 30 June 1991 | 22 April 1996[†] | 4 years, 297 days | 1991 (9th) | Indian National Congress | Saikia II | Lokanath Misra | |
| 12 | .jpg) | Bhumidhar Barman (1931–2021) MLA for Barkhetry | 22 April 1996 | 14 May 1996 | 22 days | Barman | ||||
| (11) | | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta (born 1952) MLA for Barhampur | 15 May 1996 | 17 May 2001 | 5 years, 2 days | 1996 (10th) | Asom Gana Parishad | Mahanta II | ||
| 13 |  | Tarun Gogoi (1936–2020) MLA for Titabar | 18 May 2001 | 24 May 2016 | 15 years, 6 days | 2001 (11th) | Indian National Congress | Tarun I | Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Srinivas Kumar Sinha | |
| 2006 (12th) | Tarun II | Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Ajai Singh | ||||||||
| 2011 (13th) | Tarun III | Janaki Ballabh Patnaik | ||||||||
| 14 | .jpg) | Sarbananda Sonowal (born 1962) MLA for Majuli | 24 May 2016 | 10 May 2021 | 4 years, 351 days | 2016 (14th) | Bharatiya Janata Party | Sonowal | Padmanabha Acharya | |
| 15 | .jpg) | Himanta Biswa Sarma (born 1969) MLA for Jalukbari | 10 May 2021 | Incumbent | 3 years, 43 days | 2021 (15th) | Sarma | Jagdish Mukhi | ||
Timeline
edit
See also
editReferences
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.