Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee has etched her name deeper into Bengal’s political history, becoming the state’s second-longest serving chief minister — surpassing the legendary Bidhan Chandra Roy.
Since first taking oath on May 20, 2011, Banerjee has spent 14 years and 160 days at the helm, steering Bengal through triumphs, trials, and turning points that have defined her era in power.
Roy, on the other hand, had served as the chief minister of Bengal for 14 years and 159 days. Trinamool Congress leaders are hopeful that Banerjee may serve as the chief minister for two more terms.
Trinamool Congress national general secretary and many other party leaders have already asserted that Banerjee will again come back to power in 2026 with the ruling party securing a greater number of assembly seats compared to what they had received in 2021. Roy remained the chief minister of Bengal from January 23 in 1948, to July 1 in 1962. Trinamool Congress leaders are confident that Banerjee is set to become the chief minister for the fourth consecutive term.
It is the development schemes of the Mamata Banerjee government that will secure the longest-standing chief minister of the state, surpassing Jyoti Basu, believe the Trinamool Congress top brass. Jyoti Basu has so far been the longest-serving chief minister of Bengal, who remained in office till 2000 from 1977. Abhishek has already thrown an open challenge to the BJP to cross 50 seats in the 2026 Assembly elections. He had asserted that the mandate for his party in the 2026 polls would be bigger than in 2021.
He had also alleged that the saffron party was trying to “snatch away” the voting rights of the people in Bengal ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, but the people
here would give a “befitting reply” to the BJP accusing it of using the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to “select voters” instead of letting people elect governments.