The state of Uttar Pradesh, which has been home to powerful empires during the of ancient and medieval times, is the most populous state in today’s time. In fact, UP is the most populous country subdivision in the world. The state has nearly 200 million inhabitants and is divided into 18 divisions and 75 districts with the capital being Lucknow. Before independence, the state was created as the United Provinces on April 1, 1937. Post-independence the state was renamed as Uttar Pradesh in 1950. Since Independence, the state has been governed by several political parties and has been led by various Chief Ministers.
Given below is the list of the Chief Ministers of UP –
Govind Ballabh Pant
Tenure: (26 January 1950 – 27 December 1954) – 4 Years, 335 days
Party: Indian National Congress
Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant was an Indian freedom fighter who was also one of the architects of modern India. He played a pivotal role in India’s freedom struggle and later in the Indian Government. Pant was the Chief Minister of the United Provinces from 1937 to 1939. After independence, he became the first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Sampurnanand
Tenure: (28 December 1954 – 6 December 1960) – 5 years, 344 days
Party: Indian National Congress
Sampurnanand was a teacher as well politician who hailed from Benaras (present day Varanasi). In 1922, Sampurnanand was elected to the All-India Congress Committee and since then was active in the freedom struggle. He participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement. He served as the second Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for almost 6 years. He was later appointed as the governor of Rajasthan.
Chandra Bhanu Gupta
Tenure: Ist term: (7 December 1960 – 1 October 1963) – 2 years, 298 days
IInd term: (14 March 1967 – 2 April 1967) – 19 days
IIIrd term: (26 February 1969 – 17 February 1970) – 356 days
Party: Indian National Congress
Chandra Bhanu Gupta has served thrice as the Chief Minster of Uttar Pradesh. He was an active politician since the age of 17. He joined the Indian Independence Movement and also took part in anti-Rowlatt Bill. C.B. Gupta was elected as the President of Congress Party for Lucknow in 1929. Apart from being a politician, Gupta was a social worker and educationist.
Sucheta Kiplani
Tenure: (2 October 1963 – 13 March 1967) – 3 years, 162 days
Party: Indian National Congress
Sucheta Kiplani, the first woman Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, was also the first ever woman Chief Minister in India. Born in Ambala, Punjab (now Haryana), she was a professor and also a freedom fighter who was extremely active in the freedom struggle. Sucheta was also the founder of the All India Mahila Congress which was established in 1940.
Charan Singh
Tenure: Ist term:(3 April 1967 – 25 February 1968) – 328 years,
IInd term: 918 February 1970 – 1 October 1970) – 225 days
Party: Bharatiya Kranti Dal
Chaudhary Charan Singh was the 9th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He is frequently referred to as the ‘Champion of India’s peasants’. Not only this, Charan Singh was also the 5th Prime Minister of India. He followed the policies of Mahatma Gandhi and led a non-violent struggle for India’s independence. However, he was imprisoned several times.
Charan Singh actively worked for the development of Uttar Pradesh by introducing various schemes for the welfare of the people. He formed his own party Bharatiya Kranti Dal which was later merged with Janata Dal. Charan Singh is well-remembered by the people of Uttar Pradesh. The University of Meerut in UP is named as Chaudhary Charan Singh University after him. The Amausi Airport in Lucknow was also renamed as Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport after him.
Tribhuvana Narayana Singh
Tenure: (18 October 1970 – 3 April 1971) – 167 days
Party: Indian National Congress
Tribhuvan Narayana Singh was the 12th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He later served as the Governor of West Bengal. He had also served as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and as Union Minister of Industry and Steel. Singh remained the Chancellor of Calcutta University from 1977 to 1980.This active politician was renowned for becoming the first Chief Minister to be appointed without being a member of either house of the state legislature.
Kamlapati Tripathi
Tenure: (4 April 1971 – 12 June 1973) – 2 years, 69 days
Party: Indian National Congress
Kamlapati Tripathi was a freedom fighter and also an inspirational writer. He served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and as the Union Minister of Railways twice. Being a freedom fighter Tripathi participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement, and Quit India Movement. He was also played an important role in drafting the Constitution of India. Tripathi resigned as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh because of the 1973 Provincial Armed Constabulary Revolt.
Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna
Tenure: (8 November 1973 – 29 November 1975) – 2 years, 21 days
Party: Indian National Congress
Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna was a member of the Indian National Congress who later joined Bharatiya Lok Dal and worked with Charan Singh. He parted ways with Congress when Indira Gandhi lifted the state emergency and called for new elections to the Lok Sabha and formed a new group called Congress for Democracy (CFD). His daughter Rita Bahuguna Joshi is also in Politics and is currently a minister in the Yogi Cabinet.
N. D. Tiwari
Tenure: Ist term: (21 January 1976 – 30 April 1977) – 99 days
IInd term: (3 August 1984 – 24 September 1985) – 1 year 52 days
IIIrd term: (25 June 1988 – 5 December 1989) – 1 year, 163 days
Party: Indian National Congress
Tiwari was appointed thrice as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He has also served as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He is the only Indian to serve as the Chief Minister of two states. Apart from this, Tiwari has also served as Governor of Andhra Pradesh from 2007 till 2009.
Ram Naresh Yadav
Tenure: (23 June 1977 – 27 February 1979) – 249 days
Party: Janata Party
Ram Naresh Yadav was a successful lawyer and a social worker. He belonged to the Janata Party but later joined Congress. Yadav also served as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh from 26th August 2011 to 7th September 2016. Yadav was allegedly involved in the Vyapam Scam. He was also booked under the Information Technology Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Banarsi Das
Tenure: (28 February 1979 – 17 February 1980) – 354 days
Party: Janata Party
Banarasi Das was an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1979. Das was also a freedom fighter who went to jail several times during the freedom struggle. Before being the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Das was the member of Indian Parliament from Bulandshahr.
V. P. Singh
Tenure: (9 June 1980 – 18 July 1982) – 2 years, 39 days
Party: Indian National Congress
Vishwanath Pratap Singh was an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and also as the 8th Prime Minister of India. Singh actively worked for the backward castes and became quite popular as Prime Minister. He has also served as Minister for Finance and Defence in 1984 and 1987.
Sripati Mishra
Tenure: (19 July 1982 – 2 August 1984) – 2 years, 14 days
Party: Indian National Congress
Sripati Mishra served as the Vidhan Sabha speaker in 1980 before becoming the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He is one of those politicians who worked really hard to acquire top position in the state from village politics. Mishra has also served as a senior member of Uttar Pradesh Bar Council.
Vir Bahadur Singh
Tenure: (24 September 1985 – 24 June 1988) – 2 years, 274 days
Party: Indian National Congress
Vir Bahadur Singh, the 14th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, was also a freedom fighter. He participated in the Quit India Movement in 1942. Singh has also served in the cabinet of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as the Union Minister of Communication in 1988.
Mulayam Singh Yadav
Tenure: Ist term: (5 December 1989 – 24 June 1991) -1 year, 201 days
IInd term: (4 December 1993- 3 June 1995) – 1 year, 181 days
IIIrd term: ( 29 August 2003 – 13 May 2007) – 3 years, 257 days
Party: Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party
Mulayam Singh is an Indian politician who has served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh thrice in non-consecutive terms and also as the Minister of Defence from 1996 to 1998. He is also the founder of Samajwadi Party and currently serves as the Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Azamgarh. Yadav has also served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh for eight terms.
Mayawati
Tenure: Ist term: (3 June 1995 – 18 October 1995) – 137 days
IInd term: (21 March 1997 – 21 September 1997) – 184 days
IIIrd term: (3 May 2002 – 29 August 2003) – 1 year 118 days
Ivth term: (13 May 2007 – 15 March 2012) – 4 years 307 days
Party: Bahujan Samaj Party
Mayawati is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party who has also served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for 4 times. Mayawati was the first female Scheduled Caste Chief Minister in India. The rise of Mayawati from humble beginnings has been defined as “miracle of democracy” by former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. She was also included in the list of India’s influential women by Time Magazine in 2007.
Kalyan Singh
Tenure: Ist term: (24 June 1991 – 6 December 1992) – 1 year, 165 days
IInd term: (21 September 1997 -12 November 1999) – 2 years, 52 days
Party: Bharatiya Janata Party
Kalyan Singh, the current Governor of Rajasthan, is an Indian politician hailing from Uttar Pradesh. He has served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh twice in 1991 and 1997. Kalyan Singh is well-known for his role in the Babri Masjid Demolition case.
Ram Prakash Gupta
Tenure: (12 November 1999 – 28 October 2000) – 351 days
Party: Bharatiya Janata Party
Ram Prakash Gupta was the 18th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and also the Governor of Madhya Pradesh. He was the member of erstwhile Bharatiya Janta Sangh, the predecessor party of Bharatiya Janata Party. Gupta was embroiled in several controversies throughout his political career.
Rajnath Singh
Tenure: (28 October 2000 – 8 March 2002) – 1 year, 131 days
Party: Bharatiya Janata Party
Rajnath Ram Badan Singh is the incumbent Minister of Home Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Modi. He has served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in the year 2000. Singh has held various important offices in the past including the position of Cabinet Minister in Vajpayee government, and President of BJP (twice). He has served as Member of Parliament from Ghaziabad and Lucknow and also as Minister of Agriculture in 2003.
Akhilesh Yadav
Tenure: (15 March 2012 – 19 March 2017) – 5 years, 4 days
Party: Samajwadi Party
Akhilesh Yadav, the current President of the Samajwadi Party, served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2012 to 2017. He is the youngest person to have held the office at the age of 38. Akhilesh is the son of former Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Yogi Adityanath
Tenure: (19 March 2017 – Incumbent)
Party: Bharatiya Janata Party
Yogi Adityanath, born as Ajay Mohan Bisht, is an Indian monk and politician who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He has held the office since 19 March 2017. Adityanath has been the Member of Parliament from Gorakhpur Constituency for five consecutive terms since 1998. Adityanath has completed his bachelor’s in Mathematics. Currently, he is also the Mahant or the chief priest of Gorkhnath Math, a Hindu temple in Gorakhpur.
