Mamata Banerjee (Bengali: (Mamata Bandhopadhyaya) born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the 8th and current Chief Minister of West Bengal since 2011, the first woman to hold the office. She founded the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC or TMC) party in 1998 after separating from the Indian National Congress, and became its first chairperson. She is often referred to as Didi (meaning "elder sister" in Bengali) by her followers and as Pishi (meaning "paternal aunt" in Bengali) by many of her critics.