List of chief ministers of Assam

Chief Minister of Assam
Chief Minister of Assam
	Emblem of Assam
	File:Himanta Biswa Sarma,.jpgIncumbent; Himanta Biswa Sarma; since 10 May 2021
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.
Precursor	Premier of Assam
Inaugural holder	Gopinath Bordoloi
Formation	26 January 1950; (74 years ago)

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]

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 BJP 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]

Premier of Assam (1937-50)[edit]

Under 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.

No.^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Portrait	Name	Constituency	Term of office^[3]			Assembly	Party^{[lower-alpha 2]} (coaliton)
No.^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Portrait	Name	Constituency	From	To	Days in office	Assembly	Party^{[lower-alpha 2]} (coaliton)
1		Muhammed Saadulah	Kamrup (South)	1 April 1937	19 September 1938	1 year, 171 days	1st Provincial Assembly (1937 election)	Assam United Muslim 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 United Muslim Party (AIML)
-	-	Vacant (Governor's Rule)	-	25 December 1941	24 August 1942	242 days	Dissolved	N/A
(1)		Sir Syed Muhammad Saadullah	Kamrup (South)	25 August 1942	11 February 1946	3 years, 170 days	1st Provincial Assembly (1937 election)	Assam United Muslim Party (AIML)
(2)		Gopinath Bordoloi	Kamrup Sadar (South)	11 February 1946	25 January 1950	3 years, 349 days	2nd Provincial Assembly (1946 election)	Indian National Congress

Chief Ministers of Assam[edit]

No.^{[lower-alpha 3]}	Portrait	Name	Constituency	Term of office^[3]			Assembly	Party^{[lower-alpha 4]}
No.^{[lower-alpha 3]}	Portrait	Name	Constituency	From	To	Days in office	Assembly
1		Gopinath Bordoloi	Kamrup Sadar (South)	26 January 1950	6 August 1950	192 days	2nd Provincial (1946 election)	Indian National Congress
2		Bishnuram Medhi	Hajo	9 August 1950	27 December 1957	7 years, 140 days	2nd Provincial (1946 election)
							1st (1952 election)
							2nd (1957 election)
3		Bimala Prasad Chaliha	Badarpur	28 December 1957	6 November 1970	12 years, 313 days	2nd (1957 election)
			Sonari				3rd (1962 election)
			Sonari				4th (1967 election)
4	File:M. M. Chaudhry Official portrait.jpg	Mahendra Mohan Choudhry	Guwahati East	11 November 1970	30 January 1972	1 year, 80 days	4th (1967 election)
5		Sarat Chandra Singha	Bilasipara East	31 January 1972	12 March 1978	6 years, 40 days	5th (1972 election)
6		Golap Borbora	Tinsukia	12 March 1978	4 September 1979	1 year, 176 days	6th (1978 election)	Janata Party
7		Jogendra Nath Hazarika	Duliajan	9 September 1979	11 December 1979	93 days		Janata Party
–		Vacant^{[lower-alpha 5]} (President's rule)	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^{[lower-alpha 5]} (President's rule)	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^{[lower-alpha 5]} (President's rule)	N/A	19 March 1982	27 February 1983	345 days	Dissolved	N/A
10		Hiteswar Saikia	Nazira	27 February 1983	23 December 1985	2 years, 299 days	7th (1983 election)	Indian National Congress
11		Prafulla Kumar Mahanta	Nowgong	24 December 1985	28 November 1990	4 years, 339 days	8th (1985 election)	Asom Gana Parishad
–		Vacant^{[lower-alpha 5]} (President's rule)	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 (1991 election)	Indian National Congress
12		Bhumidhar Barman	Barkhetry	22 April 1996	14 May 1996	22 days	9th (1991 election)	Indian National Congress
(11)		Prafulla Kumar Mahanta	Barhampur	15 May 1996	17 May 2001	5 years, 2 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 (2006 election)
							13th (2011 election)
14		Sarbananda Sonowal	Majuli	24 May 2016	10 May 2021	4 years, 351 days	14th (2016 election)	Bharatiya Janata Party
15	File:Himanta Biswa Sarma,.jpg	Himanta Biswa Sarma	Jalukbari	10 May 2021	Incumbent	2 years, 268 days	15th (2021 election)	Bharatiya Janata Party

Notes

↑ 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.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 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.^[4]

Timeline[edit]

<timeline> ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:15 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:200 left:20 AlignBars = late

Colors =

 id:aump   value:rgb(0,0.5,0) legend: AUMP
 id:inc    value:rgb(0,0.748,1) legend: INC
 id:jan    value:rgb(0.121,0.457,0.996) legend: JP
 id:agp    value:rgb(0.6,0.8,1) legend: AGP
 id:bjp    value:rgb(1,0.6,0.2) legend: BJP
 id:gray1  value:gray(0.8)
 id:gray2  value:gray(0.9)

Define $today = 02/02/2024

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1937 till:$today TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1937 ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1937

Legend = columns:4 left:150 top:24 columnwidth:150

TextData =

 pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M
 text: Political Party

BarData =

 bar:Saadullah
 bar:Bordoloi
 bar:Medhi
 bar:Chaliha
 bar:Choudhry
 bar:Singha
 bar:Borbora
 bar:Hazarika
 bar:Taimur
 bar:KCGogoi
 bar:Saikia
 bar:Mahanta
 bar:Barman
 bar:TGogoi
 bar:Sonowal
 bar:Sarma

PlotData =

 width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

 bar:Saadullah
from: 01/04/1937 till: 19/09/1938 color:aump 
from: 17/11/1939 till: 24/12/1941 color:aump
from: 25/08/1942 till: 11/02/1946 color:aump text:"Syed Muhammad Saadullah" fontsize:10
 bar:Bordoloi
from: 19/09/1938 till: 17/11/1939 color:inc 
from: 11/02/1946 till: 06/08/1950 color:inc text:"Gopinath Bordoloi" fontsize:10
 bar:Medhi
from: 09/08/1950 till: 27/12/1957 color:inc text:"Bishnuram Medhi" fontsize:10
 bar:Chaliha
from: 28/12/1957 till: 08/11/1970 color:inc text:"Bimala Prasad Chaliha" fontsize:10
 bar:Choudhry
from: 11/11/1970 till: 30/01/1972 color:inc text:"Mahendra Mohan Choudhry" fontsize:10
 bar:Singha
from: 31/01/1972 till: 12/03/1978 color:inc text:"Sarat Chandra Singha" fontsize:10
 bar:Borbora
from: 12/03/1978 till: 04/09/1979 color:jan text:"Golap Borbora" fontsize:10
 bar:Hazarika
from: 09/09/1979 till: 11/12/1979 color:jan text:"Jogendra Nath Hazarika" fontsize:10
 bar:Taimur
from: 06/12/1980 till: 30/06/1981 color:inc text:"Anwara Taimur" fontsize:10
 bar:KCGogoi
from: 13/01/1982 till: 19/03/1982 color:inc text:"Kesab Chandra Gogoi" fontsize:10
 bar:Saikia
from: 27/02/1983 till: 23/12/1985 color:inc 
from: 30/06/1991 till: 22/04/1996 color:inc text:"Hiteswar Saikia" fontsize:10
 bar:Mahanta
from: 24/12/1985 till: 28/11/1990 color:agp 
from: 15/05/1996 till: 17/05/2001 color:agp text:"Prafulla Kumar Mahanta" fontsize:10
 bar:Barman
from: 22/04/1996 till: 14/05/1996 color:inc text:"Bhumidhar Barman" fontsize:10
 bar:TGogoi
from: 18/05/2001 till: 24/05/2016 color:inc text:"Tarun Gogoi" fontsize:10
 bar:Sonowal
from: 24/05/2016 till: 10/05/2021 color:bjp text:"Sarbananda Sonowal" fontsize:10
 bar:Sarma
from: 10/05/2021 till: $today color:bjp text:"Himanta Biswa Sarma" fontsize:10

</timeline>

References[edit]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 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.
↑ "Himanta Biswa Sarma Crowned 15th Chief Minister Of Assam". Pratidin Time. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 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.

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[3] A parenthetical number indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.

[5] 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.

[6] A parenthetical number indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.

[7] 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.

[PR-9] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 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.^[4]

[term1-1] 1.0 ^1.1 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] "Himanta Biswa Sarma Crowned 15th Chief Minister Of Assam". Pratidin Time. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.

[:0-4] 3.0 ^3.1 Chief Ministers Archived 16 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine from the Assam Assembly website

[8] 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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[3]

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[4]

Premier of Assam (1937-50)[edit]

Chief Ministers of Assam[edit]

Timeline[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]