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 governorisde 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. Out of the thirty incumbents, except Tamil Nadu's M. K. Stalin, all other Chief Ministers also act as the leader of the house in their legislative assemblies. 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.[1]
As of July 2024[update], the office of the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir is vacant with no elections held since the former state was reorganized in 2019. Only one of the incumbents is a woman — Mamata BanerjeeinWest Bengal, who is serving since 20 March 2011 (for 13 years, 53 days), having the longest continuous incumbency. Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan (aged 79) is the oldest while Arunachal Pradesh's Pema Khandu (aged 44) is the youngest.[2] Nitish Kumar of Bihar has served for the most terms (nine).[a][3] Thirteen incumbents belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party, three to the Indian National Congress, and two to the Aam Aadmi Party. No other party has more than one chief minister in office.
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