In accordance with 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 legislative assembly, the state's governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government.
As of 4 March 2025, 46 chief ministers have served for more than 10 years; of these, only four have been female chief ministers: Sheila Dikshit (National Capital Territory of Delhi), J. Jayalalithaa (Tamil Nadu), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), and Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan).
The chief ministers from the states of Jharkhand, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have not served for 10 years in office or more, and currently there are five chief ministers who are incumbents and continue to serve.
[2][3] The longest-serving chief minister of the Republic of India is former chief minister of Sikkim Pawan Kumar Chamling of the Sikkim Democratic Front, who served from 12 December 1994 to 26 May 2019 for 24 years and 165 days.