Mamata Banerjee

Banerjee was born in Kolkata to Promileswar Banerjee and Gayatri Banerjee. The West Bengal government biography records her date of birth as 5 January 1955. Her educational qualifications include arts, education and law degrees. The Trinamool Congress account records student political activity at Jogmaya Debi College and subsequent organisational posts in Congress, including work in its women’s and youth organisations.

Banerjee first entered the Lok Sabha from Jadavpur in 1984. She subsequently represented South Kolkata, winning parliamentary elections in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009. Her Union government responsibilities included youth affairs and sports, women and child development, railways, and coal and mines. She served as Railway Minister in 1999 and returned to that portfolio in 2009 before moving to state government.

Banerjee became West Bengal’s first woman Chief Minister on 20 May 2011 after the Trinamool Congress alliance won the state election. She returned to the office in 2016 and 2021. Her period in government ended in 2026. The Union government recorded Suvendu Adhikari’s swearing-in as Chief Minister on 9 May 2026, establishing that she no longer holds the state’s chief ministerial office.

Banerjee chairs the All India Trinamool Congress. Its official biography also records her writing in Bengali and English and her work as a painter. These cultural activities form part of her public life alongside parliamentary and state politics. The party biography describes her early political work through student, youth, women’s and trade-union organisations before her parliamentary and state leadership roles.