Chief Minister of States and Union Territories of India | |
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Style |
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Type | Head of the State Government |
Status | Leader of the Executive |
Abbreviation | CM |
Member of | Member of Legislature of Respective States and Union Territories of India |
Reports to |
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Residence | Respective state capitals |
Nominator | Members of Legislative Assembly |
Appointer | The Governor by convention, based on appointee's ability to command confidence in the Legislative Assembly |
Term length | At the pleasure of the Governor No restriction on renewal |
Constituting instrument | Article No. 163 and 164, Constitution of India |
Deputy | Deputy Chief Minister (in some states) |
Salary | ₹400,000 (US$4,800) (incl. allowances) per month |
Website | Chief Ministers of India |
This article is part of a series on the |
Politics of India |
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In India, a chief minister is the elected head of government of each state out of the 28[1] states and sometimes a union territory (UT). Currently, only the UTs of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir (currently vacant) and Puducherry have serving chief ministers. According to the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister.
Following elections to the State legislative assembly or Vidhan Sabha in a state, the state's governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints and swears in the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Based on the Westminster system, given that they retain the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term can last for the length of the assembly's life, a maximum of five years. There are no limits to the number of terms that the chief minister can serve.[2] A chief minister heads a state government's council of ministers and can be deputised in that role by a deputy chief minister. The chief minister generally selects the chief secretary and can also allot departments to the cabinet ministers of their state and ministers of state. They also direct the chief secretary to transfer, suspend, or promote officers of their state.