Politicians have played a huge role in development of Bengal as state is blessed to have some of the best-known Politician across India.

Here are some famous politicians of West Bengal :

1. Jyoti Basu

Jyotirindra Basu was the longest-serving CM of West Bengal who served as the Chief Minister from 1977 from 2000. He was born on the 8th  of July 1914 to a middle-class family at 43/1 Harrison Road, Kolkata. He is the one who brought economic equality to the state. At the time of his resignation in the year 2000, he was noted to be the longest-serving Chief Minister of an elected government. He was from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and was their leader from the 1970s. He died of pneumonia on 17th January 2010.

2. Mamata Banerjee

Born on the 5th of January 1955, she is the eighth and the current Chief Minister of West Bengal. She won the 2011 legislative election ending the 34 years long rule of CPI(M) in West Bengal and headed the office. She founded the party All India Trinamool Congress (AITC or TMC) in 1998 after separating from the Indian National Congress and become its chairperson. She is usually brought up as Didi (meaning: elder sister in Hindi and Bengali). Banerjee has previously served twice as the Minister of Railways, the primary woman to try and do so. She is additionally the former female Minister of Coal, and Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Youth Affairs, Sports, Women, and Child Development within the cabinet of the Indian government.

3. Bidhan Chandra Roy

A freedom fighter, philanthropist, and a Bharat Ratna Awardee, Dr.B.C.Roy was the second chief minister of West Bengal. He is often referred to as the maker of the Modern Bengal with building cities like Durgapur, Kalyani, Bidhan Nagar. The 1st of July is celebrated as the national doctor’s day in his honor. He was a member of the Indian National Congress(INC). He completed his BA from Presidency college and then his MBBS and MD from the Calcutta Medical College (CMC).

4. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

He was the Chief Minister of the state from November 2000 to May 2011. Born on the 1st  of March 1944, he was the leader of the Communist Party of India(CPI/M) and held the Jadavpur constituency for 24 years. He was serving as CM when he lost to Manish Gupta in the 2011 election. Events during his tenure as Chief Minister included attempts to industrialise province thwarted by the TATA’s Tata Motors leaving Bengal within the face of relentless opposition by Trinamool Congress, the land acquisition dispute in Singur, the Nandigram incident, and therefore the Netai incident.

5. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh

He was the first Chief Minister of West Bengal and a member of the Indian National Congress(INC). He was a freedom fighter and a follower of the Gandhian Principles. He later switched from the INC to the Progressive Democratic Alliance Front.

6. Ajoy Mukherjee

He was the fourth Chief Minister of West Bengal and also an independence activist. He was one of the leader of  Tamrlipta National Government which came into action due to the Quit India Movement in 1942. He was greatly influenced by Swami Vivekananda. Earlier a member of the Indian National Congress, he later became a pacesetter within the Bangla Congress, which co-governed with the party of India (Marxist) in two Northern Alliance governments within the 1960s and 1970s.

7. Siddhartha Sankar Ray

He was an Indian lawyer and a diplomat who acted as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1972 to 1977. He held several other offices like the Union Minister of India from 1971 to 1972 as well as the Indian ambassador of the United States from 1992 to 1996. He was from the Indian National Congress. He played a major role in the imposing of the internal emergency in the year 1975.

8.Sarat Chandra Bose

He was a barrister and a former leader of the Bengal Pradesh congress committee. He is the brother of Subhas Chandra Bose popularly known as Netaji. He represented  All India Congress Committee from 1936 to 1947. He led the Forward Block party after his brother’s demise and formed the Socialist Republican Party. 

9. Rash Bihari Bose

He was a freedom fighter and a revolutionary leader against the British Empire. He was the one who handed over the INA(Indian National Army) to Subhash Chandra Bose.

10. Pranab Basu

He is the chairman of the Midnepore Municipality and has held his chair since 2008. He is a member of the All India Trinomool Congress and was their former district head.

11. Bratya Basu

He is a Bengali stage actor who was the former education minister of the state. He was elected from the Dumdum Presidency in the 2011 elections and he is currently managing the tourism affairs.

12. Binay Tamang

He is the member of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha. It is a political party that aspires to make Darjeeling an independent state named Gorkhaland.

13. Madan Tamang

He was an Indian political leader and the president of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League. He was said to be a follower of non-violence and followed the path negotiation for Gorkha land. He was mysteriously killed by rival supporters on 21^st May 2010.

14. Mukul Roy

He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Dal Party and a former key member of AITC. He was the founding member of AITC(All India Trinamool Congress) but later left it due to some inside clashes. He was the 32^nd Railway Minister of India.

15. Subhas Ghisingh

He was the member and leader of the Gorkha National Liberal Front(GNLF). He was the main face of the Gorkhaland movement in the 1980s. He was the chairman of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hills Council.

16. Bimal Gurung

He is one of the founders and leaders of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha as well as the chairperson of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. He was arrested in 2017 after hiding from the state due to Unlawful Activities.

17. Abhishek Banerjee

He is a member of the AITC and the nephew of the current Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee. He is the current MP from Diamond Harbour constituency. He is also the president of the All India Youth Trinamool Congress.

18. Firhad Hakim

He is the current mayor of Kolkata and the first Muslim to do so since independence. He is a member of the All India Trinamool Congress. He was also a cabinet minister of the state government before becoming the mayor.

19. Sovan Chatterjee

20. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya

He is currently a member of Rajya Sabha from the Communist Party of India(CPI/M). He served as the mayor of Kolkata from 2005 to 2010. He is an eminent lawyer in Kolkata High Court and has fought many high profile cases.