List of chief ministers of Tamil Nadu
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. 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 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, the state's 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.[2]
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
- The Honourable (formal)
- Mr./Mrs./Ms. Chief Minister (informal)
Leader of the Executive
CMOTN
25/9, Chittaranjan Salai, Cenotaph 2nd Lane, Alwarpettai, Chennai – 600018, Tamil Nadu, India.
10 April 1952
- A. Subbarayalu Reddiar
(as Chief Minister of the Madras Presidency)[1] - P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja
(as Chief Minister of Madras State) - C. N. Annadurai
(as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu)
Since 1952, Tamil Nadu has had 12 chief ministers, 13 including V. R. Nedunchezhiyan, who twice acted in the role. The longest-serving chief minister, M. Karunanidhi from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam held the office for over eighteen years in multiple tenures, while he was the one who had the largest gap between two terms (nearly thirteen years). The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's former general secretary J. Jayalalithaa has the second-longest tenure, and its founder M. G. Ramachandran, the first actor to become the chief minister in India has the third-longest tenure, while his wife V. N. Janaki Ramachandran has the shortest tenure (only 23 days). K. Kamaraj resigned his post of his own free will and devoted all of his energy to the revitalization of the Indian National Congress party; he was responsible for the elevation of Lal Bahadur Shastri to the position of Prime Minister of the Republic of India following the death of Jawaharlal Nehru and of Indira Gandhi following the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri. C. Rajagopalachari served as the last Governor-General of the Union of India before becoming chief minister of undivided Madras State. There have been four instances of president's rule in Tamil Nadu, most recently in 1991.[3][4]
The current incumbent is M. K. Stalin of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam since 7 May 2021.