The Municipal Council was set up in 1949 under the Bengal Municipal Act of 1932 with 8 wards. The first chairperson of the municipality was the Sub Divisional Officer and the local councilors, called 'commissioners' in the then municipal act in effect, were nominated by the state government. After the amendment of the act in 1956, 3/4 of the local representatives were elected, while the remaining nominated by the Deputy Commissioner. Thus, the first elected chairperson of Siliguri was Jagdish Chandra Bhattacharya.