The deputy chief minister is a member of the state government and usually the second highest ranking executive officer of their state’s council of ministers. While not a constitutional office, it seldom carries any specific powers.[1] A deputy chief minister usually also holds a cabinet portfolio such as home minister or finance minister. In the parliamentary system of government, the chief minister is treated as the “first among equals” in the cabinet; the position of deputy chief minister is used to bring political stability and strength within a coalition government.
Currently, only 17 states and 1 union territory (out of 25 states and 3 union territories) have deputy chief ministers. Out of these, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,Manipur , Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have two deputy chief ministers each. No other state and union territory has more than one deputy chief minister in office.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has seventeen incumbents, the Indian National Congress has three, the Naga People’s Front and the National People’s Party have two incumbents, the Jana Sena Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena and the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference has one incumbent each. Of the 28 incumbents, four are woman — Sunetra Pawar in Maharashtra, Nemcha Kipgen in Manipur,Pravati Parida in Odisha & Diya Kumari in Rajasthan. The longest-serving incumbent deputy chief minister is Chowna Mein, who has served as the deputy chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh since 17 July 2016 (for 9 years, 274 days). As of 17 April 2026, one state (Uttarakhand) and one union territory (Puducherry) have never had a deputy chief minister.
Current Indian deputy chief ministers
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See also
- List of current Indian governors
- List of current Indian lieutenant governors and administrators
- List of current Indian chief ministers
- List of current Indian legislative speakers and chairpersons
- List of current Indian opposition leaders
- List of current Indian chief justices
- List of female deputy chief ministers in India
- List of deputy prime ministers of India
References
- ^ Rajendran, S. (13 July 2012). “Of Deputy Chief Ministers and the Constitution”. The Hindu. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
- ^ Arunachal Pradesh Cabinet Ministers
- ^ “Chhattisgarh likely to have two Deputy CMS, Raman Singh as Speaker: Report”. 10 December 2023.
- ^ “Congress turns the page in Himachal: Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is CM”. 10 December 2022.
- ^ Maharashtra Cabinet Expansion
- ^ “Prestone Tysong”.
- ^ “BJP to get deputy cm in Nagaland”. The Times of India. 6 March 2018.
- ^ [1]
- ^ “Sindhi Punjabi society congratulates Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak”.