By Anurjay Dhal
BHUBANESWAR: Indian Constitution says “ A person can become Chief Minister without being an MLA at the time of appointment, but must get elected to the state Assembly (or Legislative Council where applicable) within 6 months,” .
There were numbers of such cases where a sitting Lok Sabha (or in some cases Rajya Sabha) MP transitioned to the Chief Minister’s post , they typically resign from Parliament after taking oath or as required, since one cannot hold both positions long-term under anti-defection and dual-membership rules.
Many leaders move between Parliament and state politics. The reverse path (CM → Union Minister/PM) is also common (like Narendra Modi, HD Deve Gowda, ).
Recent examples around 2023 Assembly elections also saw several sitting BJP MPs resign after winning Assembly seats , some were CM contenders, though not all became CM.
Take the case of Yogi Adityanath , CM Uttar Pradesh, a five times MP from Gorakhpur ( 1998-2017) , became CM in 2017 while still an MP, resigned from Lok Sabha.
9 times MP, Giridhari Gamango became CM of Odisha in 1999 while he was sitting Koraput Congress MP, he elected to Odisha Assembly from Laxmipur in a bypolls within 6 months.
Naveen Patnaik, Ex CM Odisha, Lok Sabha MP from Aska Ganjam, ( 1997-2000) also Union Minister, became CM in March 2000, after resigning from Lok Sabha.
Mamata Banerjee, Ex CM West Bengal, long time Lok Sabha MP until 2011, , she was sitting MP when she became CM on May 20, 2011, she resigned from Lok Sabha after taking oath.
Revanth Reddy, CM Telagana, Lok Sabha MP from Malkajgiri (2019-2023), became CM in December 2023, resigned as MP.
Uma Bharati ,Ex CM Madhya Pradesh, Multiple term Lok Sabha MP from Khajuraho and Bhopal , became CM in December 2003.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Ex CM, sitting Union Minister, five times MP from Vidisha, (1991-2005), became CM in November 2005, while still an MP, later contested Assembly bypolls.
Keshubhai Patel ,Ex CM Gujarat, had been Lok Sabha from Rajkote earlier , rose to became CM in 1995 and again later.
Meanwhile, from late Sushma Swaraj (Delhi, 52 days) to Bhagat Singh Koshyari (Uttarakhand, ~123 days), BJP Chief Ministers have Long History of Premature Exit from Chief Minister’s Office. If there is a leadership change in Odisha, no surprise it will bring at all.
Sushma Swaraj (Delhi, 52 days), Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra, one 3-day stint), B.S. Yediyurappa (Karnataka, short stints like 2007: ~7 days, 2018: ~6 days), Sadananda Gowda (Karnataka, ~342 days), Jagadish Shettar (Karnataka, ~305 days), Basavaraj Bommai (Karnataka, ~1 year 296 days).
Uma Bharti (Madhya Pradesh, ~259 days), Babulal Gaur (Madhya Pradesh, ~1 year 98 days), Ram Prakash Gupta (Uttar Pradesh, ~351 days), Rajnath Singh (Uttar Pradesh, ~1 year 131 days), Tirath Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand, ~116 days), Nityanand Swami (Uttarakhand, ~355 days), Bhagat Singh Koshyari (Uttarakhand, ~123 days).
These are the main ones from BJP history with individual or notable short tenures around 1-2 years (or less) before shifting/replacement, based on official records. Many short terms resulted from political instability, floor tests, or party decisions. Longer cumulative tenures (e.g., Yediyurappa overall) are excluded here.
Recent or current short-tenure BJP CMs (around 1-2 years or less, as of mid-2026):
Rekha Gupta (Delhi) – ~1 year 107 days (incumbent, started Feb 2025).
Samrat Choudhary (Bihar) – ~70 days (incumbent, started April 2026).
Yumnam Khemchand Singh (Manipur) – ~123-124 days (incumbent, started Feb 2026).
Suvendu Adhikari (West Bengal) – ~60 days (incumbent, started May 2026).
Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra, current stint) – ~1 year 300 days (as of now).
Mohan Charan Majhi (Odisha) – ~2 years (incumbent since June 2024).
Others with relatively shorter recent stints or recent shifts: Biren Singh (Manipur) – Resigned after ~2 years amid issues (2023-early 2025 period).
Historical short ones like those mentioned before (e.g., Fadnavis’s 3-day stint, various Uttarakhand/Karnataka/MP quick changes) still stand, but no major new ultra-short replacements in the last few months beyond the above.
BJP often rotates leadership in some states for political/organizational reasons, leading to these patterns. Speculation about further changes exists, but nothing confirmed for immediate shifts as of now.
