Jagadambika Pal holds record of CM with shortest tenure

Devendra Fadnavis may have resigned only four days after being sworn as the chief minister of Maharashtra but his party MP Jagadambika Pal still holds the distinction of the shortest tenure as the chief minister.

Pal, an MP from Doomeriyaganj Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, is also known as the 'one-day chief minister'.

Pal, then a leader of the Loktantrik Congress Party (LCP), had been sworn-in as the chief minister of UP by the then governor of the state, Romesh Bhandari, on the night of February 21, 1998, after dismissing the Kalyan Singh government.

Bhandari had dismissed the Kalyan Singh government after the LCP had withdrawn its support to it. Though Singh claimed that he enjoyed the majority support in the house, his contention was rejected by the governor.

The Allahabad high court, however, reversed the decision the very next day.

A composite floor test was ordered by the court in which Kalyan Singh secured 225 votes while Pal could get only 196 votes.