In the Republic of India, a chief minister is the head of government of each of the twenty-eight states and three of the eight union territories. According to the Constitution of India, at the state-level, the governor is de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the state legislative assembly, the governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the state government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given they have the assembly’s confidence, the chief minister’s term is usually for a maximum of five years; there are no limits to the number of terms they can serve.
At present, the offices of Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and Chief Minister of Puducherry are vacant. Of the thirty incumbents, one is a woman—Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal. Serving since March 2000 (for 21 years, 35 days), Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik has the longest incumbency. Amarinder Singh (b. 1942) of Punjab is the oldest chief minister while Arunachal Pradesh’s Pema Khandu (b. 1979) is the youngest. Nitish Kumar has served for the most terms (7). Twelve incumbents belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party and three to the Indian National Congress; no other party has more than one chief minister in office.
Current Indian chief ministers
| Colour key for parties |
|---|
|
Aam Aadmi Party
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Trinamool Congress
Bharatiya Janata Party
Biju Janata Dal
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Indian National Congress
Janata Dal (United)
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
Mizo National Front
Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party
National People’s Party
Shiv Sena
Sikkim Krantikari Morcha
Telangana Rashtra Samithi
Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party
N/A (President’s rule)
|
| State (past chief ministers) |
Name | Portrait | Took office (tenure length) |
Party | Ministry | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh (list) |
Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy |  |
30 May 2019 (1 year, 314 days) |
YSR Congress Party | Reddy | ||
| Arunachal Pradesh (list) |
Pema Khandu |  |
17 July 2016 (4 years, 266 days) |
Bharatiya Janata Party | Khandu II | ||
| Assam (list) |
Sarbananda Sonowal |  |
24 May 2016 (4 years, 320 days) |
Bharatiya Janata Party | Sonowal | ||
| Bihar (list) |
Nitish Kumar |  |
22 February 2015 (6 years, 46 days) |
Janata Dal (United) | Nitish Kumar VII | ||
| Chhattisgarh (list) |
Bhupesh Baghel |  |
17 December 2018 (2 years, 113 days) |
Indian National Congress | Baghel | ||
| Delhi (list) |
Arvind Kejriwal |  |
14 February 2015 (6 years, 54 days) |
Aam Aadmi Party | Kejriwal III | ||
| Goa (list) |
Pramod Sawant |  |
19 March 2019 (2 years, 21 days) |
Bharatiya Janata Party | Sawant | ||
| Gujarat (list) |
Vijay Rupani |  |
7 August 2016 (4 years, 245 days) |
Bharatiya Janata Party | Rupani II | ||
| Haryana (list) |
Manohar Lal Khattar |  |
26 October 2014 (6 years, 165 days) |
Bharatiya Janata Party | Khattar II | ||
| Himachal Pradesh (list) |
Jai Ram Thakur |  |
27 December 2017 (3 years, 103 days) |
Bharatiya Janata Party | Thakur | ||
| Jammu and Kashmir (list) |
Vacant (President’s rule) |
 |
31 October 2019 (1 year, 160 days) |
N/A | N/A | ||
| Jharkhand (list) |
Hemant Soren |  |
29 December 2019 (1 year, 101 days) |
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha | Soren II | ||
| Karnataka (list) |
B. S. Yediyurappa |  |
26 July 2019 (1 year, 257 days) |
Bharatiya Janata Party | Yediyurappa IV | ||
| Kerala (list) |
Pinarayi Vijayan |  |
25 May 2016 (4 years, 319 days) |
Communist Party of India (Marxist) | Vijayan | ||
| Madhya Pradesh (list) |
Shivraj Singh Chouhan |  |
23 March 2020 (1 year, 17 days) |
Bharatiya Janata Party | Chouhan IV | ||
| Maharashtra (list) |
Uddhav Thackeray |  |
28 November 2019 (1 year, 132 days) |
Shiv Sena | Thackeray | ||
| Manipur (list) |
N. Biren Singh |  |
15 March 2017 (4 years, 25 days) |
Bharatiya Janata Party | Biren | ||
| Meghalaya (list) |
Conrad Sangma |  |
6 March 2018 (3 years, 34 days) |
National People’s Party | Sangma | ||
| Mizoram (list) |
Zoramthanga |  |
15 December 2018 (2 years, 115 days) |
Mizo National Front | Zoramthanga III | ||
| Nagaland (list) |
Neiphiu Rio |  |
8 March 2018 (3 years, 32 days) |
Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party | Rio IV | ||
| Odisha (list) |
Naveen Patnaik |  |
5 March 2000 (21 years, 35 days) |
Biju Janata Dal | Patnaik V | ||
| Puducherry (list) |
Vacant (President’s rule) |
|
23 February 2021 (45 days) |
N/A | N/A | ||
| Punjab (list) |
Amarinder Singh |  |
16 March 2017 (4 years, 24 days) |
Indian National Congress | Amarinder II | ||
| Rajasthan (list) |
Ashok Gehlot |  |
17 December 2018 (2 years, 113 days) |
Indian National Congress | Gehlot III | ||
| Sikkim (list) |
Prem Singh Tamang |  |
27 May 2019 (1 year, 317 days) |
Sikkim Krantikari Morcha | Tamang | ||
| Tamil Nadu (list) |
Edappadi K. Palaniswami |  |
16 February 2017 (4 years, 52 days) |
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Palaniswami | ||
| Telangana (list) |
K. Chandrashekhar Rao |  |
2 June 2014 (6 years, 311 days) |
Telangana Rashtra Samithi | Rao II | ||
| Tripura (list) |
Biplab Kumar Deb |  |
9 March 2018 (3 years, 31 days) |
Bharatiya Janata Party | Deb | ||
| Uttar Pradesh (list) |
Yogi Adityanath |  |
19 March 2017 (4 years, 21 days) |
Bharatiya Janata Party | Yogi Adityanath | ||
| Uttarakhand (list) |
Tirath Singh Rawat |  |
10 March 2021 (30 days) |
Bharatiya Janata Party | Rawat | ||
| West Bengal (list) |
Mamata Banerjee |  |
20 May 2011 (9 years, 324 days) |
All India Trinamool Congress | Banerjee II | ||