In 2001, Anil Kapoor in the Bollywood film 'Nayak' played chief minister for a day. He dazzled the audience with his actions against numerous wrongs. But in the real world, too, a lot of political leaders have had dramatic shifts in careers and short tenures as CMs.
Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Devendra Fadnavis has become the 10th political leader to join the list of chief ministers who have had the shortest tenures in Indian history. Hours before Fadnavis resigned, NCP's Ajit Pawar also resigned from the post of deputy CM.
Fadnavis has joined Uttar Pradesh’s Jagdambika Pal and Karnataka’s BS Yediyurappa as CMs to have the shortest tenure – three days.
The days are counted from the day of swearing-in to the day of resignation.
1. Devendra Fadnavis – 3 Days
Three days ago, on 23 November, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar shook the nation when they took oath as the chief minister and deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, respectively, at 7:50 am, in the presence of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.
Since then, Maharashtra politics has been rich with drama as the BJP claimed to have majority and locked horns with the NCP-Shiv Sena-Congress combine.
Amid discussions of a split within the NCP, there was a cloud of suspicion over the numbers of NCP leaders supporting or not supporting the BJP. However, after Ajit Pawar's resignation, Fadnavis stated that his party doesn't have the required number of MLAs.
Fadnavis' resignation came hours after the Supreme Court ordered his government to prove majority in a floor test on 27 November.
Now after Yediyurappa, Fadnavis is the second BJP leader to have the shortest stint as a state’s CM.
2. BS Yediyurappa – 3 Days in 2018, 8 Days in 2007
In May 2018, BS Yediyurappa's three-day tenure as the chief minister of Karnataka turned out to be one of the shortest in Indian history.
The 75-year-old BJP leader was sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka on 17 May. He resigned before facing a Supreme Court-mandated floor test on 19 May.
The BJP veteran's initiation to the league of chief ministers with short tenures, however, happened over a decade ago.
In 2007, Yediyurappa had to resign as the chief minister of Karnataka after just eight days in office.
3. Jagdambika Pal – 3 Days
Before, Yediyurappa and Fadnavis, then Congress leader Jagdambika Pal, also known as 'Teen din ka CM' (three-day chief minister) held the title for the shortest stint as the chief minister.
He was the Uttar Pradesh chief minister in 1998 for three days from 21-23 February. Back then, after the Kalyan Singh government was dismissed, Pal was sworn in as the chief minister late at night on 21 February.
However, in a twist of events, on 23 February, the Allahabad High Court reinstated Kalyan Singh as the CM.
4. Satish Prasad Singh – 5 Days
Bihar had got an almost week-long chief minister in 1968. Fifty years ago, Satish Prasad Singh occupied the office for five days from 28 January to 1 February 1968. He was the first chief minister belonging to the Other Backward Class (OBC).
In a dramatic turn of events, Singh recommended BP Mandal's name, a senior party colleague on 2 February and proposed him as his successor in the legislative party.
The then governor N Kaungoi invited Mandal to form the government in Bihar on 3 February.
5. Om Prakash Chautala – 6 Days in 1990, 17 Days in 1991
Om Prakash Chautala, an Indian National Lok Dal leader – grandfather of current Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Singh Chautala – has had four stints as the CM of Haryana between 1989-2004 at different points of time.
His second stint was the shortest as it lasted for a period of six days from 12-17 July.
Soon after came his third stint as the CM when he served for 17 days, from 21 March to 6 April.
6. Nitish Kumar – 8 Days
Much like the present political mess in Maharashtra, around 19 years ago, a similar situation arose in Bihar when Nitish Kumar – the current chief minister of Bihar – took oath as the CM on 3 March 2000.
Kumar, then a Samata Party leader and a Union minister in the Vajpayee Cabinet had claimed the support of 151 MLAs, less than the halfway mark of 163, according to Deccan Herald.
Eventually, Governor Vinod Chandra Pande asked Kumar to face a confidence motion as it was only a trust vote on the floor of the House which could have decided who enjoyed the majority.
On 10 March, Kumar resigned as the CM, without facing the floor test. He was succeeded by Rabri Devi.
7. SC Marak – 12 Days
Salseng C Marak, also known as 'Mr Clean' of Meghalaya politics, holds the record of heading a government for the shortest period of time in the state – 12 days in 1998.
Marak became the chief minister on 27 February 1998 and resigned on 10 March, paving the way for United Parliamentary Forum leader BB Lyngdoh to be his successor.
8. VN Janaki – 24 Days
Vaikom Narayani Janaki Ramachandran was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for 24 days, from 7-30 January 1988. This is the shortest tenure held by any CM in the state's history.
Soon after her Cabinet and the Assembly were collectively dissolved by the government of India due to failures relating to law and order.
She was sworn in as the CM shortly after the death of her husband, actor and politician MG Ramachandran. At that time, the AIADMK split into two factions, with one supporting Ramachandran, and the other behind Jayalalithaa, who was the then propaganda secretary of the party.
On 28 January 1988, when the Janaki government faced confidence motion in the Assembly, unprecedented violence took place in the House. The clash had culminated into the imposition of President's rule in the state, dismissing the three-week old government formed by Ramachandran. However, three years later, Jayalalithaa went on to become the state’s chief minister.
9. BP Mandal – 31 Days
Bihar clearly saw a tumultuous turn of events as Bindheshwar Prasad Mandal who succeeded Satish Prasad Singh in 1968, was the chief minister for 31 days from 1 February to 2 March in the same year.
He is also known from his famous Mandal Commission that initiated a fierce debate on the policy for the underprivileged and underrepresented groups in Indian politics.
10. Mohammed Koya – 51 Days
The only Muslim to have been the Chief Minister of Kerala, CH Mohammed Koya's term lasted for 51 days from 12 October to 1 December 1979.
In the next United Democratic Front (UDF) ministry headed by K Karunakaran, Koya went on to adorn the seat of deputy chief minister in 1981.
(With inputs from PTI, Hindustan Times, Telegraph, state of Kerala, The Hindu, Deccan Herald)
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