Mamata Banerjee (born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician and founder of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). She served as Chief Minister of West Bengal from 2011 to 2026, the state’s first woman in the role. Known as “Didi”, she ended 34 years of Left Front rule in 2011 and won two more elections. In May 2026 the BJP defeated her party, and she lost her own Bhabanipur seat.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Mamata Banerjee |
| Born | 5 January 1955, Calcutta (now Kolkata), India |
| Age | 71 |
| Known as | Didi |
| Party | All India Trinamool Congress (founder, 1998) |
| Office held | Chief Minister of West Bengal (2011–2026) |
| Other offices | Union Railway Minister (1999–2001, 2009–2011) |
| Education | MA in Islamic History, BEd, LLB, University of Calcutta |
| Marital status | Unmarried |
Early Life
Mamata Banerjee was born in Kolkata into a lower-middle-class family. Her father, a freedom fighter, died when she was young. She studied history, education and law at the University of Calcutta and became active in the Congress’s student wing in the 1970s.
Political Career
In 1984, aged 29, Banerjee defeated the veteran CPI(M) leader Somnath Chatterjee in Jadavpur, becoming one of India’s youngest MPs. She served as a Union Minister of State under P. V. Narasimha Rao.
Frustrated with the Congress in Bengal, Banerjee founded the All India Trinamool Congress on 1 January 1998. She served as Railway Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee‘s NDA government and again in Manmohan Singh‘s UPA government. She was the first woman to hold the post.
Banerjee led mass protests against land acquisition for industry at Singur and Nandigram in 2006–07. The Singur agitation led Tata Motors to move its Nano plant out of Bengal. In 2011 the TMC swept the Assembly election, ending the Left Front’s 34-year rule, and she became Chief Minister.
Banerjee won again in 2016 and 2021. In 2021 she lost her own Nandigram contest to her former aide Suvendu Adhikari but returned through a by-election in Bhabanipur. Her government’s welfare schemes included Kanyashree, a scheme for girls’ education that won a United Nations Public Service Award, and Lakshmir Bhandar, a monthly allowance for women.
In the April–May 2026 Assembly election, the BJP won a large majority, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule. Banerjee lost Bhabanipur to Suvendu Adhikari, who was sworn in as West Bengal’s first BJP Chief Minister on 9 May 2026. She remains TMC chairperson and a leading opposition figure.
Personal Life
Banerjee is unmarried and known for her simple lifestyle: a cotton sari, rubber slippers and a modest home in Kalighat. She paints and writes poetry, and she has published many books. Her nephew Abhishek Banerjee is a senior TMC leader.
Key Offices Held
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Mamata Banerjee born?
Mamata Banerjee was born on 5 January 1955 in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India.
