List of Chief Ministers of Gujarat

Chief Minister of Gujarat
Incumbent Anandiben Patel since 22 May 2014
Appointer	Governor of Gujarat
Inaugural holder	Jivraj Narayan Mehta
Formation	1 May 1960

The Chief Minister of Gujarat is the chief executive of the western Indian state of Gujarat. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, the state's 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 it came into existence on 1 May 1960, being carved out of the Gujarati-speaking districts of Bombay State, 15 people have served as Chief Minister of Gujarat. Many of them have belonged to the Indian National Congress party, including inaugural office-holder Jivraj Narayan Mehta. Gujarat's longest-serving chief minister is Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who served for twelve and a half years from 2001 to 2014. After Modi resigned to become the 15th Prime Minister of India, his party-mate Anandiben Patel became the first woman who take oath as Chief Minister of Gujarat on 22 May 2014.

Chief Ministers of Gujarat

Colour key for parties
Bharatiya Janata Party   Indian National Congress   Janata Dal, Janata Dal (Gujarat)   Janata Front   Janata Party   Rashtriya Janata Party   N/A (President's rule)

Jivraj Narayan Mehta, Gujarat's first chief minister

Shankersinh Vaghela, the 12th Gujarat chief minister, is currently Leader of the Opposition in the Gujarat Assembly.

Keshubhai Patel, the 10th chief minister

Gujarat's longest-serving chief minister is Narendra Modi, currently the Prime Minister of India.

No[lower-alpha 1]	Name	Term of office[2]		Party[lower-alpha 2]		Days in office	Assembly[3]	Ref
1	Jivraj Narayan Mehta Amreli	1 May 1960	3 March 1962	Indian National Congress		1238 days	First (1960–61)	[4]
		3 March 1962	19 September 1963				Second (1962–66)	[5]
2	Balwantrai Mehta –	19 September 1963	20 September 1965			733 days
3	Hitendra Kanaiyalal Desai Olpad	20 September 1965	3 April 1967			2062 days
		3 April 1967	12 May 1971				Third (1967–71)	[6]
–	Vacant[lower-alpha 3] (President's rule)	12 May 1971	17 March 1972	N/A			Dissolved
4	Ghanshyam Oza Dehgam	17 March 1972	17 July 1973	Indian National Congress		488 days	Fourth (1972–74)	[8]
5	Chimanbhai Patel Sankheda	18 July 1973	9 February 1974			207 days
–	Vacant[lower-alpha 3] (President's rule)	9 February 1974	18 June 1975	N/A			Dissolved
6	Babubhai J. Patel Sabarmati	18 June 1975	12 March 1976	Janata Front (INC (O) + BJS + BLD + SP)		211 days	Fifth (1975–80)	[9]
–	Vacant[lower-alpha 3] (President's rule)	12 March 1976	24 December 1976	N/A
7	Madhav Singh Solanki Bhardran	24 December 1976	10 April 1977	Indian National Congress		108 days
(6)	Babubhai J. Patel Sabarmati	11 April 1977	17 February 1980	Janata Party		1042 days (Total: 1253 days)
–	Vacant[lower-alpha 3] (President's rule)	17 February 1980	7 June 1980	N/A			Dissolved
(7)	Madhav Singh Solanki Bhardran	7 June 1980	10 March 1985	Indian National Congress		1856 days	Sixth (1980–85)	[10]
		11 March 1985	6 July 1985				Seventh (1985–90)	[11]
8	Amarsinh Chaudhary Vyara (ST)	6 July 1985	9 December 1989			1618 days
(7)	Madhav Singh Solanki Bhardran	10 December 1989	4 March 1990			85 days (Total: 2049 days)
(5)	Chimanbhai Patel Unjha	4 March 1990	25 October 1990	JD + BJP		1445 days (Total: 1652 days)	Eighth (1990–95)	[12]
		25 October 1990	17 February 1994	JD(G) + INC
9	Chhabildas Mehta Mahuva	17 February 1994	14 March 1995	Indian National Congress		391 days
10	Keshubhai Patel Visavadar	14 March 1995	21 October 1995	Bharatiya Janata Party		221 days	Ninth (1995–98)	[13]
11	Suresh Mehta Mandvi	21 October 1995	19 September 1996			334 days
–	Vacant[lower-alpha 3] (President's rule)	19 September 1996	23 October 1996	N/A
12	Shankersinh Vaghela Radhanpur	23 October 1996	27 October 1997	Rashtriya Janata Party		370 days
13	Dilip Parikh Dhandhuka	28 October 1997	4 March 1998			128 days
(10)	Keshubhai Patel Visavadar	4 March 1998	6 October 2001	Bharatiya Janata Party		1312 days (Total: 1533 days)	Tenth (1998–2002)	[14]
14	Narendra Modi Maninagar	7 October 2001	22 December 2002			4610 days
		22 December 2002	22 December 2007				Eleventh (2002–07)	[15]
		23 December 2007	20 December 2012				Twelfth (2007–12)	[16]
		20 December 2012	22 May 2014				Thirteenth (2012–17)	[17]
15	Anandiben Patel Ghatlodia	22 May 2014	Incumbent			639 days

Notes

Footnotes

1. A number inside brackets indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
2. This column only names the chief minister's party. The state government he headed may have been a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.
3. 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.^[7]

References

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 Gujarat as well.
2. http://www.gujaratassembly.gov.in/pastcm.htm
3. http://www.gujaratassembly.gov.in/pastsession.htm
4. "Statistical Report on General Election, 1957, to the Legislative Assembly of Bombay". Election Commission of India. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
5. "Key Highlights of General Election, 1962, to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat". Election Commission of India. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
6. "Key Highlights of General Election, 1967, to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat". Election Commission of India. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
7. Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005.
8. "Key Highlights of General Election, 1972, to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat". Election Commission of India. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
9. "Key Highlights of General Election, 1975, to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat". Election Commission of India. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
10. "Key Highlights of General Election, 1980, to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat". Election Commission of India. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
11. "Key Highlights of General Election, 1985, to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat". Election Commission of India. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
12. "Key Highlights of General Election, 1990, to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat". Election Commission of India. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
13. "Key Highlights of General Election, 1995, to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat". Election Commission of India. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
14. "Key Highlights of General Election, 1998, to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat". Election Commission of India. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
15. "Key Highlights of General Election, 2002, to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat". Election Commission of India. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
16. "Statistical Report on General Election, 2007, to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat". Election Commission of India. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.
17. "Statistical Report on General Election, 2012, to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat". Election Commission of India. Retrieved on 23 May 2014.