Chief Minister of Odisha

Chief Minister of Odisha
Chief Minister of Odisha
	Emblem of Odisha
	Flag of India
	Incumbent; Mohan Charan Majhi; since 12 June 2024
	Chief Minister's Office; Government of Odisha;
Style	The Honourable
Type	Head of government
Status	Leader of the Executive
Abbreviation	CM of Odisha
Member of	Legislative Assembly; State Cabinet;
Reports to	Governor of Odisha; Odisha Legislative Assembly;
Residence	Bhubaneswar
Seat	Lok Seva Bhavan, Bhubaneswar
Nominator	MLAs of the majority party or alliance
Appointer	Governor of Odisha; by convention, based on appointee's ability to command confidence in the Odisha Legislative Assembly;
Term length	At the confidence of the assembly; Five years and no term limits;
Precursor	Prime Minister of Orissa
Inaugural holder	Harekrushna Mahatab
Formation	1 April 1936; (90 years ago)
Deputy	Deputy Chief Minister of Odisha
Salary	₹98,000 (US$1,000)/monthly; ₹1,176,000 (US$12,000)/annually;
Website	cm.odisha.gov.in

The chief minister of Odisha, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Odisha. 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 Odisha 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] Chief Minister also serves as Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly.^[2]

Brief History

On 1 April 1936, Orissa Province was formed. The first provincial government formed under Prime ministership of Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deo. He ruled until July 1937. Thereafter the All India Congress party leader Bishwanath Das took over the charge of Prime minister for two more years. Again Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati took the charge before he finally handed over to Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab in the year 1946.

After India got its independence under the new framework the Prime Minister or Premier position of provincial governments got abolished and the position of chief minister was created in 1950. Until the first election after independence, Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab continued to be the chief minister of Odisha and then it was taken over by Nabakrushna Choudhury. Here is the list of chief ministers of Odisha since 1946. Since 1946, Odisha has had 14 chief ministers. Serving from 2000 till 2024, Naveen Patnaik of the Biju Janata Dal was the longest-serving chief minister in Odisha's history (He also the 1st never INC associated member to occupy the post). The current chief minister of Odisha since 12 June 2024 is Mohan Charan Majhi of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Prime Minister of Orissa (1937–1950)

#	Name	Constituency	Tenure			Assembly (Election)	Government	Appointer (Governor)	Party
1	Krushna Chandra Gajapati	Paralakhemundi	1 April 1937	19 July 1937	109 days	1st Provincial (1937)	Gajpati I	Sir John Austen Hubback	Independent
2	Bishwanath Das	Ghumsur	19 July 1937	6 November 1939	2 years, 110 days		Das I	Sir John Austen Hubback	Indian National Congress
(1)	Krushna Chandra Gajapati	Paralakhemundi	24 November 1941	30 June 1944	2 years, 219 days		Gajpati II	Sir Hawthorne Lewis	Independent
3	Harekrushna Mahatab	East Bhadrak	23 April 1946	26 January 1950	3 years, 278 days	2nd Provincial (1946)	Mahtab I	Chandulal Trivedi	Indian National Congress

Chief Minister of Orissa/Odisha (1950–present)

#	Name	Constituency	Tenure			Assembly (Election)	Government	Appointer (Governor)	Party^[a]
1	Harekrushna Mahatab	East Bhadrak	26 January 1950	12 May 1950	106 days	2nd Provincial (1946 election)	Mahtab I	Chandulal Trivedi	Indian National Congress
2	Nabakrushna Choudhuri	North Kendrapara	12 May 1950	20 February 1952	6 years, 160 days	2nd Provincial (1946 election)	Choudhuri I	Asaf Ali
2	Nabakrushna Choudhuri	Barchana	20 February 1952	19 October 1956	6 years, 160 days	1st (1952 election)	Choudhuri II	Asaf Ali
(1)	Harekrushna Mahatab	Not Contested	19 October 1956	5 April 1957	4 years, 129 days	1st (1952 election)	Mahtab II	Bhim Sen Sachar
(1)	Harekrushna Mahatab	Soro	6 April 1957	25 February 1961	4 years, 129 days	2nd (1957 election)	Mahtab III	Bhim Sen Sachar
–	Vacant^[b] (President's rule)	N/A	25 February 1961	23 June 1961	118 days	Dissolved	N/A	N/A	N/A
3	Biju Patnaik	Choudwar	23 June 1961	2 October 1963	2 years, 101 days	3rd (1961 election)	Biju I	Yashwant Narayan Sukthankar	Indian National Congress
4	Biren Mitra	Cuttack City	2 October 1963	21 February 1965	1 year, 142 days		Mitra	Ajudhia Nath Khosla
5	Sadashiva Tripathy	Umerkote	21 February 1965	8 March 1967	2 years, 15 days		Tripathy	Ajudhia Nath Khosla
6	Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo	Bolangir	8 March 1967	9 January 1971	3 years, 307 days	4th (1967 election)	Singh Deo	Ajudhia Nath Khosla	Swatantra Party
–	Vacant^[b] (President's rule)	N/A	9 January 1971	3 April 1971	84 days	Dissolved	N/A	N/A	N/A
7	Bishwanath Das	Rourkela	3 April 1971	14 June 1972	1 year, 72 days	5th (1971 election)	Das II	Shaukatullah Shah Ansari	Independent
8	Nandini Satpathy	Cuttack City	14 June 1972	3 March 1973	262 days	5th (1971 election)	Satpathy I	Sardar Jogendra Singh	Indian National Congress
–	Vacant^[b] (President's rule)	N/A	3 March 1973	6 March 1974	1 year, 3 days	Dissolved	N/A	N/A	N/A
(8)	Nandini Satpathy	Dhenkanal	6 March 1974	16 December 1976	2 years, 285 days	6th (1974 election)	Satpathy II	Basappa Danappa Jatti	Indian National Congress
–	Vacant^[b] (President's rule)	N/A	16 December 1976	29 December 1976	13 days		N/A	N/A	N/A
9	Binayak Acharya	Berhampur	29 December 1976	30 April 1977	122 days		Acharya	Siba Narain Sankar	Indian National Congress
–	Vacant^[b] (President's rule)	N/A	30 April 1977	26 June 1977	57 days	Dissolved	N/A	N/A	N/A
10	Nilamani Routray	Basudevpur	26 June 1977	17 February 1980	2 years, 236 days	7th (1977 election)	Routray	Harcharan Singh Brar	Janata Party
–	Vacant^[b] (President's rule)	N/A	17 February 1980	9 June 1980	113 days	Dissolved	N/A	N/A	N/A
11	Janaki Ballabh Patnaik	Athagarh	9 June 1980	10 March 1985	9 years, 181 days	8th (1980 election)	Janaki I	C. M. Poonacha	Indian National Congress
11	Janaki Ballabh Patnaik	Athagarh	10 March 1985	7 December 1989	9 years, 181 days	9th (1985 election)	Janaki II	Bishambhar Nath Pande
12	Hemananda Biswal	Laikera	7 December 1989	5 March 1990	88 days	9th (1985 election)	Biswal I	Saiyid Nurul Hasan
(3)	Biju Patnaik	Bhubaneswar	5 March 1990	15 March 1995	5 years, 10 days	10th (1990 election)	Biju II	Yagya Dutt Sharma	Janata Dal
(11)	Janaki Ballabh Patnaik	Begunia	15 March 1995	17 February 1999	3 years, 339 days	11th (1995 election)	Janaki III	B. Satya Narayan Reddy	Indian National Congress
13	Giridhar Gamang	Laxmipur	17 February 1999	6 December 1999	292 days		Gamang	C. Rangarajan
(12)	Hemananda Biswal	Laikera	6 December 1999	5 March 2000	90 days		Biswal II	M. M. Rajendran
14	Naveen Patnaik	Hinjili	5 March 2000	16 May 2004	24 years, 99 days	12th (2000 election)	Naveen I	M. M. Rajendran	Biju Janata Dal
			16 May 2004	21 May 2009		13th (2004 election)	Naveen II	M. M. Rajendran
			21 May 2009	21 May 2014		14th (2009 election)	Naveen III	Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare
			21 May 2014	29 May 2019		15th (2014 election)	Naveen IV	S. C. Jamir
			29 May 2019	12 June 2024		16th (2019 election)	Naveen V	Ganeshi Lal
15	Mohan Charan Majhi	Keonjhar	12 June 2024	Incumbent	2 years, 121 days	17th (2024 election)	Majhi	Raghubar Das	Bharatiya Janata Party

↑ 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.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, in the event that a state government is unable to function according to constitutional provisions, the Central government can take direct control of the state machinery through the Governor. When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.^[3]

Statistics

Fraction of time of holding CMO by party in Odisha (as of 11 August 2026)

#	Chief Minister	Party		Term of office
#	Chief Minister	Party		Longest tenure	Total tenure
1	Naveen Patnaik		BJD	24 years, 99 days	24 years, 99 days
2	Janaki Ballabh Patnaik		INC	9 years, 181 days	13 years, 155 days
3	Biju Patnaik		JD/INC	5 years, 10 days	7 years, 111 days
4	Nabakrushna Choudhuri		INC	6 years, 160 days	6 years, 160 days
5	Harekrushna Mahatab		INC	4 years, 129 days	4 years, 236 days
6	Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo		SWA	3 years, 307 days	3 years, 307 days
7	Nandini Satpathy		INC	2 years, 285 days	3 years, 182 days
8	Nilamani Routray		JP	2 years, 236 days	2 years, 236 days
9	Mohan Charan Majhi		BJP	2 years, 121 days	2 years, 121 days
10	Sadashiva Tripathy		INC	2 years, 15 days	2 years, 15 days
11	Biren Mitra		INC	1 year, 142 days	1 year, 142 days
12	Bishwanath Das		IND	1 year, 72 days	1 year, 72 days
13	Giridhar Gamang		INC	292 days	292 days
14	Hemananda Biswal		INC	90 days	178 days
15	Binayak Acharya		INC	122 days	122 days

References

↑ 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 Odisha as well.
↑ https://apuat21.cgg.gov.in/web/legislative-assembly/leader-of-the-house
↑ Amberish K. Diwanji (15 March 2005). "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. Retrieved 3 March 2013.

External links

[3] 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-4] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, in the event that a state government is unable to function according to constitutional provisions, the Central government can take direct control of the state machinery through the Governor. When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.^[3]

[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 Odisha as well.

[2] ttps://apuat21.cgg.gov.in/web/legislative-assembly/leader-of-the-house

[5] Amberish K. Diwanji (15 March 2005). "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. Retrieved 3 March 2013.

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v t e Chief ministers of Odisha
Orissa Province	Krushna Chandra Gajapati Bishwanath Das Harekrushna Mahatab
Odisha (formerly Orissa)	Harekrushna Mahatab Nabakrushna Choudhuri Biju Patnaik Biren Mitra Sadashiva Tripathy Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo Bishwanath Das Nandini Satpathy Binayak Acharya Nilamani Routray Janaki Ballabh Patnaik Hemananda Biswal Giridhar Gamang Naveen Patnaik Mohan Charan Majhi
Ministry	Gajapati I Das I Gajapati II Mahatab I Choudhuri I Choudhuri II Mahtab II Mahtab III Biju I Mitra Tripathy Singh Deo Das II Satpathy I Satpathy II Acharya Routray Janaki I Janaki II Biswal I Biju II Janaki III Gamang Biswal II Naveen I Naveen II Naveen III Naveen IV Naveen V Majhi