List of chief ministers of Bihar

Chief Minister of Bihar
Chief Minister of Bihar
	Emblem of Bihar
	Incumbent; Nitish Kumar; since 22 February 2015
	Government of Bihar
Style	The Honourable (Formal); Mr./Mrs. Chief Minister (Informal)
Type	Head of Government
Status	Leader of the Executive
Abbreviation	CM
Member of	Cabinet; Bihar Legislature;
Reports to	Governor of Bihar; Bihar Legislature;
Residence	1, Aney Marg, Patna
Seat	Patna Secretariat
Nominator	Members of the Government of Bihar in Bihar Legislative Assembly
Appointer	Governor of Bihar by convention based on appointees ability to command confidence in the Bihar Legislative Assembly
Term length	At the confidence of the assembly; Chief minister's term is for 5 years and is subject to no term limits.
Precursor	Premier of Bihar
Inaugural holder	Shri Krishna Sinha
Formation	26 January 1950 (74 years ago)
Deputy	Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar
Salary	₹215,000 (US$2,600)/monthly; ₹2,580,000 (US$31,000)/annually;
Website	cm.bihar.gov.in

The chief minister of Bihar is the chief executive of the Indian state of Bihar. As per the Constitution of India, the Governor of Bihar is the state's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Bihar 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]

From 1946, 23 people have been Chief Minister of Bihar. The current incumbent is Nitish Kumar who is having incumbency since 22 February 2015. The longest incumbent chief minister of Bihar held to Nitish Kumar.

Prime Ministers from Bihar

The province of Bihar headquartered in Patna then comprised the present-day states Bihar and Jharkhand. On 1 April 1936, Bihar and Orissa became separate provinces by the partition of the province of Bihar and Orissa. Under the Government of India Act 1935, a bicameral legislature was set up with a legislative assembly and a legislative council with a government headed by the Premier.^[2]^[3]

No.^[a]	Portrait	Name	Term of Office			Party
No.^[a]	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Tenure	Party
1		Mohammad Yunus	1 April 1937	19 July 1937	109 days	Muslim Independent Party
2		Shri Krishna Sinha	20 July 1937	31 October 1939	2 years, 103 days	Indian National Congress
(2)		Shri Krishna Sinha	23 March 1946	14 August 1947	1 year, 144 days	Indian National Congress

Chief Ministers of Bihar

^[†] Assassinated or died in office

#	Name	Constituency	Term of office			Assembly (Election)	Party^[b]
1	Shri Krishna Sinha	Kharagpur	26 January 1950	29 April 1952	11 years, 5 days	Provincial (1946 election)	Indian National Congress
		Kharagpur	29 April 1952	5 May 1957		1st (1952 election)
		Sheikhpura	5 May 1957	31 January 1961^[†]		2nd (1957 election)
2	Deep Narayan Singh	Hajipur	1 February 1961	18 February 1961	17 days
3	Binodanand Jha	Rajmahal	18 February 1961	15 March 1962	2 years, 226 days
3	Binodanand Jha	Rajmahal	15 March 1962	2 October 1963	2 years, 226 days	3rd (1962 election)
4	Krishna Ballabh Sahay	Patna West	2 October 1963	5 March 1967	3 years, 154 days	3rd (1962 election)
5	Mahamaya Prasad Sinha	Patna West	5 March 1967	28 January 1968	329 days	4th (1967 election)	Jana Kranti Dal
6	Satish Prasad Singh	Parbatta	28 January 1968	1 February 1968	4 days		Shoshit Dal
7	B. P. Mandal	MLC	1 February 1968	22 March 1968	50 days		Shoshit Dal
8	Bhola Paswan Shastri	Korha	22 March 1968	29 June 1968	99 days		Loktantrik Congress
–	Vacant^[c] (President's rule)	N/A	29 June 1968	26 February 1969	242 days	Dissolved	N/A
9	Harihar Singh	Nayagram	26 February 1969	22 June 1969	116 days	5th (1969 election)	Indian National Congress
(8)	Bhola Paswan Shastri	Korha	22 June 1969	4 July 1969	12 days		Loktantrik Congress
–	Vacant^[c]	N/A	4 July 1969	16 February 1970	227 days		N/A
10	Daroga Prasad Rai	Parsa	16 February 1970	22 December 1970	309 days		Indian National Congress (R)
11	Karpoori Thakur	Tajpur	22 December 1970	2 June 1971	162 days		Samyukta Socialist Party
(8)	Bhola Paswan Shastri	Korha	2 June 1971	9 January 1972	221 days		Loktantrik Congress
–	Vacant^[c]	N/A	9 January 1972	19 March 1972	70 days	Dissolved	N/A
12	Kedar Pandey	Nautan	19 March 1972	2 July 1973	1 year, 105 days	6th (1972 election)	Indian National Congress
13	Abdul Ghafoor	MLC	2 July 1973	11 April 1975	1 year, 283 days
14	Jagannath Mishra	Jhanjharpur	11 April 1975	30 April 1977	2 years, 19 days
–	Vacant^[c]	N/A	30 April 1977	24 June 1977	55 days	Dissolved	N/A
(11)	Karpoori Thakur	Phulparas	24 June 1977	21 April 1979	1 year, 301 days	7th (1977 election)	Janata Party
15	Ram Sundar Das	Sonepur	21 April 1979	17 February 1980	302 days	7th (1977 election)	Janata Party
–	Vacant^[c]	N/A	17 February 1980	8 June 1980	112 days		N/A
(14)	Jagannath Mishra	Jhanjharpur	8 June 1980	14 August 1983	3 years, 67 days	8th (1980 election)	Indian National Congress
16	Chandrashekhar Singh	MLC	14 August 1983	12 March 1985	1 year, 210 days	8th (1980 election)
17	Bindeshwari Dubey	Shahpur	12 March 1985	14 February 1988	2 years, 339 days	9th (1985 election)
18	Bhagwat Jha Azad	MLC	14 February 1988	11 March 1989	1 year, 25 days
19	Satyendra Narayan Sinha	MLC	11 March 1989	6 December 1989	270 days
(14)	Jagannath Mishra	Jhanjharpur	6 December 1989	10 March 1990	94 days
20	Lalu Prasad Yadav	MLC	10 March 1990	28 March 1995	5 years, 18 days	10th (1990 election)	Janata Dal
–	Vacant^[c]	N/A	28 March 1995	4 April 1995	7 days	Dissolved	N/A
(20)	Lalu Prasad Yadav	Raghopur	4 April 1995	25 July 1997	2 years, 112 days	11th (1995 election)	Janata Dal
(20)	Lalu Prasad Yadav	Raghopur	4 April 1995	25 July 1997	2 years, 112 days		Rashtriya Janata Dal
21	Rabri Devi	MLC	25 July 1997	11 February 1999	1 year, 201 days		Rashtriya Janata Dal
–	Vacant^[c])	N/A	11 February 1999	9 March 1999	26 days		N/A
(21)	Rabri Devi	MLC	9 March 1999	3 March 2000	360 days		Rashtriya Janata Dal
22	Nitish Kumar	unelected	3 March 2000	11 March 2000^[5]	8 days	12th (2000 election)	Samata Party
(21)	Rabri Devi ^[d]	Raghopur	11 March 2000	7 March 2005	4 years, 361 days	12th (2000 election)	Rashtriya Janata Dal
–	Vacant^[c]	N/A	7 March 2005	24 November 2005	262 days	13th (Feb 2005 election)	N/A
(22)	Nitish Kumar	MLC	24 November 2005	26 November 2010	8 years, 177 days	14th (Oct 2005 election)	Janata Dal (United)
(22)	Nitish Kumar	MLC	26 November 2010	20 May 2014	8 years, 177 days	15th (2010 election)
23	Jitan Ram Manjhi	Makhdumpur	20 May 2014	22 February 2015	278 days
(22)	Nitish Kumar	MLC	22 February 2015	20 November 2015	9 years, 281 days
			20 November 2015	16 November 2020		16th (2015 election)
			16 November 2020	Incumbent		17th (2020 election)

Statistics

Fraction of time of holding CMO by party (as of October 2024)

Indian National Congress (43.21%)

Janata Dal (United) (25.29%)

Rashtriya Janata Dal (10.14%)

Janata Dal (9.77%)

Janata Party (3.55%)

Others (4.37%)

President's Rule (3.67%)

No.	Name	Party		Length of term
No.	Name	Party		Longest continuous term	Total years of premiership
1	Nitish Kumar		JD(U)	9 years, 281 days	18 years, 90 days
2	Shri Krishna Sinha		INC	14 years, 314 days	17 years, 51 days
3	Rabri Devi		RJD	4 years, 360 days	7 year, 190 days
4	Lalu Prasad Yadav		JD	5 years, 18 days	7 years, 130 days
5	Jagannath Mishra		INC	3 years, 67 days	5 years, 180 days
6	Krishna Ballabh Sahay		INC	3 years, 154 days	3 years, 154 days
7	Bindeshwari Dubey		INC	2 years, 338 days	2 years, 338 days
8	Binodanand Jha		INC	2 years, 226 days	2 years, 226 days
9	Karpoori Thakur		SP	1 year, 301 days	2 years, 98 days
10	Abdul Ghafoor		INC	1 year, 283 days	1 year, 283 days
11	Chandrashekhar Singh		INC	1 year, 210 days	1 year, 210 days
12	Kedar Pandey		INC	1 year, 105 days	1 year, 105 days
13	Bhagwat Jha Azad		INC	1 year, 24 days	1 year, 24 days
14	Mahamaya Prasad Sinha		JKD	329 days	329 days
15	Daroga Prasad Rai		INC	310 days	310 days
16	Ram Sundar Das		JP	302 days	302 days
17	Jitan Ram Manjhi		JD(U)	278 days	278 days
18	Satyendra Narayan Sinha		INC	270 days	270 days
19	Harihar Singh		INC	117 days	117 days
20	Bhola Paswan Shastri		INC	99 days	112 days
21	Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal		SSP	51 days	51 days
22	Deep Narayan Singh		INC	17 days	17 days
23	Satish Prasad Singh		SSP	5 days	5 days

Timeline

References

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 ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h President's rule may be imposed when the "government in a state is not able to function as per the Constitution", which often happens because no party or coalition has a majority in the assembly. When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant, and the administration is taken over by the governor, who functions on behalf of the central government. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.^[4]
^ On 15 November 2000, the new state of Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar.

Citations

^ ^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 Karnataka as well.
^ "How Bihar was carved out of the Bengal Presidency in 1912". www.indianexpress.com. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
^ "Nitish Kumar's government in Bihar not outvoted as much as outmanoeuvred by Laloo Yadav".
^ "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005.
^ "Nitish Kumar's government in Bihar not outvoted as much as outmanoeuvred by Laloo Yadav".

[4] 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.

[PR-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h President's rule may be imposed when the "government in a state is not able to function as per the Constitution", which often happens because no party or coalition has a majority in the assembly. When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant, and the administration is taken over by the governor, who functions on behalf of the central government. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.^[4]

[9] On 15 November 2000, the new state of Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar.

[term1-1] 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 Karnataka as well.

[2] "How Bihar was carved out of the Bengal Presidency in 1912". www.indianexpress.com. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.

[3] "Nitish Kumar's government in Bihar not outvoted as much as outmanoeuvred by Laloo Yadav".

[Diwanji-6] "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005.

[:0-8] "Nitish Kumar's government in Bihar not outvoted as much as outmanoeuvred by Laloo Yadav".

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