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.Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th Edition, 2011 Reprint. pp. 241, 245. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. . Note: although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Assam as well. Chief Minister also serves as Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly.
Since 1946, Assam has had 17 chief ministers. Ten of them 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 party's continuous rule in the state was brought to an end when Golap Borbora led the Janata party to victory in the 1978 elections. Borbora consequently became the first non-Congress chief minister of the state. Prior to that, Borbora was also the first non-Congress leader to be elected to the Rajya Sabha from the state. Congressman Tarun Gogoi is the longest-serving officeholder, having served for 15 years between 2001 and 2016. Sarbananda Sonowal became the first chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party, when he was sworn in on 24 May 2016. On 9 May 2021, Himanta Biswa Sarma was announced as the 15th chief minister of Assam.
Oath as the state chief minister The chief minister serves five years in the office. The following is the oath of the Deputy chief minister of state: Oath of Secrecy "I, [Name], do swear in the name of God / solemnly affirm that I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person or persons any matter which shall be brought under my consideration or shall become known to me as a Minister for the State of [Name of State] except as may be required for the due discharge of my duties as such Minister.Moi, [Apunar Naam], iaswaror namot sapun loisu / drirhatare protigya korisu je, moi bidi dara sthapit Bharatborkhor songbidhanor proti sosa sroddha aru loyalty (anugotya) poson korim; moi Bharatborkhor sarbobhoumotto (sovereignty) aru अखंडता (akhandata) রক্ষা (rokshya) korim; moi [Rajyor Naam] rajyor mukhyamantri rupe mor kortobbyobur nispokhopathwabe, bhay-bhiti, ror-alor ba bhed-bhab nohowakoi, hokolubur manuhor proti songbidhan aru ain onuhori nyaipurnobhabe palon korim." 2. Oath of Secrecy (Goponiyator Sapun) "Moi, [Apunar Naam], iaswaror namot sapun loisu / drirhatare protigya korisu je, [Rajyor Naam] rajyor mukhyamantri rupe mor bibeosonalyi ona ba moi gumpua jikunu bikhoy, mor kortobbyobur huthurube palon koribloi proyojon huwar bahi, porokhyo ba protokhyobhabe kunu byokti ba byoktisokolok olopwru prokhash nokorim ba jonablloi nidiw."
List of Prime ministers Assam Province (1937-50) 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. #PortraitNameConstituencyTerm of officeChief Ministers from the Assam Assembly websiteAssemblyParty (coalition)1Muhammed SaadulahKamrup (South)1 April 193719 September 19381st Provincial
(1937 election)Assam Valley Party (INC)2Gopinath BordoloiKamrup Sadar (South)19 September 193817 November 1939Indian National Congress(1)Muhammed SaadulahKamrup (South)17 November 193924 December 1941Assam Valley Party (AIML) - -Vacant (Governor's Rule) -25 December 194124 August 1942DissolvedN/A(1)Muhammed SaadulahKamrup (South)25 August 194211 February 19461st Provincial
(1937 election)Assam Valley Party (AIML)(2)Gopinath BordoloiKamrup Sadar (South)11 February 194625 January 19502nd Provincial (1946 election)Indian National Congress
List of chief ministers of Assam (1950-present) Note: Died in office #PortraitNameMinistryConstituencyTerm of officeChief Ministers from the Assam Assembly websiteAssemblyParty1Gopinath BordoloiKamrup Sadar South26 January 19505 August 19502nd ProvincialIndian National Congress2Bishnuram MedhiMedhi lHajo9 August 19505 March 1952Medhi ll5 March 195227 February 19571stMedhi lll27 February 195728 December 19572nd3Bimala Prasad ChalihaChaliha lBadarpur28 December 195722 March 1962 Chaliha llSonari22 March 196216 March 19673rdChaliha lll16 March 196711 November 19704th4Mahendra Mohan ChoudhryChoudhry MinistryGauhati East11 November 197031 January 19725Sarat Chandra SinhaSinha MinistryBilasipara East31 January 197212 March 19785th6Golap BorboraBorbora MinistryTinsukia12 March 19789 September 19796thJanata Party7Jogendra Nath HazarikaHazarika MinistryDuliajan9 September 197912 December 1979–Vacant (President's rule)N/A12 December 19796 December 1980N/A8Anwara TaimurTaimur MinistryDalgaon6 December 198030 June 1981Indian National Congress–Vacant (President's rule)N/A30 June 198113 January 1982N/A9Keshab Chandra GogoiDibrugarh13 January 198219 March 1982Indian National Congress–Vacant (President's rule)N/A19 March 198227 February 1983DissolvedN/A10Hiteswar SaikiaNazira27 February 198324 December 19857th (1983 election)Indian National Congress11Prafulla Kumar MahantaMahanta lNowgong24 December 198528 November 19908th (1985 election)Asom Gana Parishad–Vacant (President's rule)N/A28 November 199030 June 1991DissolvedN/A(10)Hiteswar SaikiaNazira30 June 199122 April 19969th (1991 election)Indian National Congress12Bhumidhar BarmanBarkhetri22 April 199615 May 1996(11)Prafulla Kumar MahantaBarhampur15 May 199618 May 200110th (1996 election)Asom Gana Parishad13Tarun GogoiTitabor18 May 200129 May 200611th (2001 election)Indian National Congress29 May 200613 May 201112th (2006 election)13 May 201124 May 201613th (2011 election)14Sarbananda SonowalMajuli24 May 201610 May 202114th (2016 election)Bharatiya Janata Party15Himanta Biswa SarmaJalukbari10 May 202112 May 202615th (2021 election)12 May 2026Incumbent16th (2026 election)
Statistics List by chief minister #Chief MinisterPartyTerm of office Longest tenure Total tenure 1 Tarun Gogoi 2 Bimala Prasad Chaliha 3 Prafulla Kumar Mahanta 9 years, 342 days 4 Hiteswar Saikia 7 years, 232 days 5 Bishnuram Medhi 6 Sarat Chandra Sinha 7 Himanta Biswa Sarma 8 Sarbananda Sonowal 9 Golap Borbora 10 Mahendra Mohan Choudhry 11 Anwara Taimur 12 Gopinath Bordoloi 14 Jogendra Nath Hazarika 13 Keshab Chandra Gogoi 15 Bhumidhar Barman
Timeline
See also List of current Indian chief ministers List of governors of Assam List of Assam ministries
Notes
References