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List of prime ministers of India

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The prime minister of India is the chief executive of the Government of India and chair of the Union Council of Ministers.[1][2] Although the president of India is the constitutional, nominal, and ceremonial head of state,[3][4][5][6] in practice and ordinarily, the executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers.[7][8][6] The prime minister is the leader elected by the party with a majority in the lower house of the Indian parliament, the Lok Sabha, which is the main legislative body in the Republic of India.[9] The prime minister and their cabinet are at all times responsible to the Lok Sabha.[10][11] The prime minister can be a member of the Lok Sabha or of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the parliament. The prime minister ranks third in the order of precedence.

  • Top left: Jawaharlal Nehru was the first and the longest-serving prime minister in Indian history.
  • Top center: Indira Gandhi was the first and only woman to serve as prime minister.
  • Top right: Morarji Desai was the first non-Congress prime minister.
  • Bottom left: Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first non-Congress prime minister to complete a full 5 year term.
  • Bottom center: Manmohan Singh was the first prime minister from a minority religion.
  • Bottom right: Narendra Modi is the only prime minister to be born in independent India and is the longest-serving non-Congress prime minister.

The prime minister is appointed by the president of India; however, the prime minister has to enjoy the confidence of the majority of Lok Sabha members, who are directly elected every five years, unless a prime minister resigns. The prime minister is the presiding member of the Council of Ministers of the Union government. The prime minister unilaterally controls the selection and dismissal of members of the council; and allocation of posts to members within the government. This council, which is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha as per Article 75(3), assists the president regarding the operations under the latter's powers; however, by the virtue of Article 74 of the Constitution, such 'aid and advice' tendered by the council is binding.

Since 1947, India has had 14 prime ministers.[a] Jawaharlal Nehru was India's first prime minister, serving as prime minister of the Dominion of India from 15 August 1947 until 26 January 1950, and thereafter of the Republic of India until his death in May 1964. (India conducted its first post-independence general elections in 1952). Earlier, Nehru had served as prime minister of the Interim Government of India during the British Raj from 2 September 1946 until 14 August 1947, his party, the Indian National Congress having won the 1946 Indian provincial elections. Nehru was succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri, whose 1 year 7-month term ended in his death in Tashkent, then in the USSR, where he had signed the Tashkent Declaration between India and Pakistan.[12] Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter, succeeded Shastri in 1966 to become the country's first female prime minister.[13] Eleven years later, her party the Indian National Congress lost the 1977 Indian general election to the Janata Party, whose leader Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress prime minister.[14] After Desai resigned in 1979, his former associate Charan Singh briefly held office until the Congress won the 1980 Indian general election and Indira Gandhi returned as prime minister.[15] Her second term as prime minister ended five years later on 31 October 1984, when she was assassinated by her bodyguards.[13] Her son Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as India's youngest premier. Members of Nehru–Gandhi family have been prime minister for approximately 38 years.[16]

After a general election loss, Rajiv Gandhi's five-year term ended; his former cabinet colleague, Vishwanath Pratap Singh of the Janata Dal, formed the year-long National Front coalition government in 1989. A seven-month interlude under prime minister Chandra Shekhar followed, after which the Congress party returned to power, forming the government under P. V. Narasimha Rao in June 1991, Rajiv Gandhi having been assassinated earlier that year.[17] Rao's five-year term was succeeded by four short-lived governments—Atal Bihari Vajpayee from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for 13 days in 1996, a year each under United Front prime ministers H. D. Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral, and Vajpayee again for 13 months in 1998–1999.[17] In 1999, Vajpayee's National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won the general election, the first non-Congress alliance to do so, and he served a full five-year term as prime minister.[18] The Congress, and its United Progressive Alliance won the general elections in 2004 and 2009, Manmohan Singh serving as prime minister between 2004 and 2014.[19] The BJP won the 2014 Indian general election, and its parliamentary leader Narendra Modi formed the first non-Congress single party majority government.[20] The BJP goes on to win the 2019 Indian general election with a bigger margin than last time, granting a second term for the incumbent Modi government.[21] In 2024 Indian general election, incumbent BJP losses majority but remains the single largest party in the country, and BJP and its National Democratic Alliance forms the government. Modi becomes the prime minister for the third consecutive time, second only to do so after the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.[22][23]

List of prime ministers of India

Key
  • No.: Incumbent number
  • † Assassinated or died in office
  • § Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term
  • RES Resigned
  • NC Resigned following a no-confidence motion

Colour key (for political coalitions/parties):

No. Portrait Name
(born – died)
Constituency 		Age when assumed office Term of office & elections
Duration in years and days 		Concurrent ministerial positions Party Government Head of State
(Tenure)
1   Jawaharlal Nehru
(1889–1964)
MP for United Provinces
(Constituent Assembly, 1947-1952)
MP for Phulpur (1952-1964) 		57 years, 274 days 15 August
1947 		27 May
1964[†] 		16 years, 286 days – Indian National Congress Nehru I George VI[b]
(1947–1950)
Rajendra Prasad
(1950–1962)
1951–52 Nehru II
1957 Nehru III
1962 Nehru IV Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
(1962–1967)
Acting   Gulzarilal Nanda
(1898–1998)
MP for Sabarkantha 		65 years, 328 days 27 May
1964 		9 June
1964 		13 days – Nanda I
2   Lal Bahadur Shastri
(1904–1966)
MP for Allahabad 		62 years, 250 days 9 June
1964 		11 January
1966[†] 		1 year, 216 days – Shastri
Acting   Gulzarilal Nanda
(1898–1998)
MP for Sabarkantha 		67 years, 191 days 11 January
1966 		24 January
1966 		13 days – Nanda II
3   Indira Gandhi
(1917–1984)
MP for Uttar Pradesh
(Rajya Sabha, 1966–1967)
MP for Rae Bareli (1967–1977) 		48 years, 66 days 24 January
1966 		24 March
1977 		11 years, 59 days – Indira I
1967 Indira II Zakir Husain
(1967–1969)
V. V. Giri
(1969)
(Acting)
Mohammad Hidayatullah
(1969)
(Acting)
V. V. Giri
(1969–1974)
1971 Indian National Congress (R) Indira III
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
(1974–1977)
B. D. Jatti
(1977)
(Acting)
4   Morarji Desai
(1896–1995)
MP for Surat 		81 years, 24 days 24 March
1977 		28 July
1979[RES] 		2 years, 126 days 1977 Janata Party Desai
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
(1977–1982)
5   Charan Singh
(1902–1987)
MP for Baghpat 		76 years, 217 days 28 July
1979 		14 January
1980[RES] 		170 days – None Janata Party (Secular) Charan
(3)   Indira Gandhi
(1917–1984)
MP for Medak 		62 years, 56 days 14 January
1980[§] 		31 October
1984[†] 		4 years, 291 days 1980 Indian National Congress (I) Indira IV
Zail Singh
(1982–1987)
6   Rajiv Gandhi
(1944–1991)
MP for Amethi 		40 years, 72 days 31 October
1984 		2 December
1989 		5 years, 32 days – Rajiv I
1984 Rajiv II Ramaswamy Venkataraman
(1987–1992)
7   Vishwanath Pratap Singh
(1931–2008)
MP for Fatehpur 		58 years, 160 days 2 December
1989 		10 November
1990[NC] 		343 days 1989 Janata Dal Vishwanath
8   Chandra Shekhar
(1927–2007)
MP for Ballia 		63 years, 207 days 10 November
1990 		21 June
1991[RES] 		223 days – Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar
9   P. V. Narasimha Rao
(1921–2004)
MP for Nandyal 		69 years, 358 days 21 June
1991 		16 May
1996 		4 years, 330 days 1991 Indian National Congress (I) Rao
Shankar Dayal Sharma
(1992–1997)
10   Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow 		71 years, 143 days 16 May
1996 		1 June
1996[RES] 		16 days 1996 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I
11   H. D. Deve Gowda
(born 1933)
MP for Karnataka (Rajya Sabha) 		63 years, 14 days 1 June
1996 		21 April
1997[RES] 		324 days – Janata Dal
(United Front) 		Deve Gowda
12   Inder Kumar Gujral
(1919–2012)
MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha) 		77 years, 138 days 21 April
1997 		19 March
1998[RES] 		332 days – Gujral
K. R. Narayanan
(1997–2002)
(10)   Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow 		73 years, 84 days 19 March
1998[§] 		22 May
2004 		6 years, 64 days 1998 Bharatiya Janata Party
(National Democratic Alliance) 		Vajpayee II
1999 Vajpayee III
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
(2002–2007)
13   Manmohan Singh
(born 1932)
MP for Assam (Rajya Sabha) 		71 years, 239 days 22 May
2004 		26 May
2014 		10 years, 4 days 2004 Indian National Congress
(United Progressive Alliance) 		Manmohan I
Pratibha Patil
(2007–2012)
2009 Manmohan II
Pranab Mukherjee
(2012–2017)
14   Narendra Modi
(born 1950)
MP for Varanasi 		63 years, 251 days 26 May
2014 		Incumbent 10 years, 181 days 2014 Bharatiya Janata Party
(National Democratic Alliance) 		Modi I
Ram Nath Kovind
(2017–2022)
2019 Modi II
Droupadi Murmu
(2022–present)
2024 Modi III

List of prime ministers by length of term

No. Name Party Length of term
Longest continuous term Total years of premiership
1 Jawaharlal Nehru INC 16 years, 286 days 16 years, 286 days
2 Indira Gandhi INC/INC(I)/INC(R) 11 years, 59 days 15 years, 350 days
3 Narendra Modi BJP 10 years, 181 days* 10 years, 181 days*
4 Manmohan Singh INC 10 years, 4 days 10 years, 4 days
5 Atal Bihari Vajpayee BJP 6 years, 64 days 6 years, 80 days
6 Rajiv Gandhi INC(I) 5 years, 32 days 5 years, 32 days
7 P. V. Narasimha Rao INC(I) 4 years, 330 days 4 years, 330 days
8 Morarji Desai JP 2 years, 126 days 2 years, 126 days
9 Lal Bahadur Shastri INC 1 year, 216 days 1 year, 216 days
10 Vishwanath Pratap Singh JD 343 days 343 days
11 Inder Kumar Gujral JD 332 days 332 days
12 H. D. Deve Gowda JD 324 days 324 days
13 Chandra Shekhar SJP(R) 223 days 223 days
14 Charan Singh JP(S) 170 days 170 days
15 Gulzarilal Nanda INC 13 days 26 days
Timeline
Narendra ModiManmohan SinghInder Kumar GujralH. D. Deve GowdaAtal Bihari VajpayeeP. V. Narasimha RaoChandra ShekharV. P. SinghRajiv GandhiCharan SinghMorarji DesaiIndira GandhiLal Bahadur ShastriGulzarilal NandaJawaharlal Nehru

Lifespan of Prime Ministers

Narendra ModiManmohan SinghInder Kumar GujralH. D. Deve GowdaAtal Bihari VajpayeeP. V. Narasimha RaoChandra ShekharVishwanath Pratap SinghRajiv GandhiCharan SinghMorarji DesaiIndira GandhiLal Bahadur ShastriJawaharlal Nehru

List by party

Fraction of time of holding PMO by party (as of August 2024)

  Indian National Congress (70.05%)
  Bharatiya Janata Party (21.97%)
  Janata Dal (3.55%)
  Janata Party (3.05%)
  Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) (0.79%)
  Janata Party (Secular) (0.59%)
Political parties by total timespan of their member holding PMO (as of 23 November 2024)
No. Political party Number of Prime ministers Total years of holding PMO
1 INC/INC(I)/INC(R) 7 54 years, 123 days
2 BJP 2 16 years, 261 days
3 JD 3 2 years, 269 days
4 JP 1 2 years, 126 days
5 SJP(R) 1 223 days
6 JP(S) 1 170 days

Parties by total duration (in years) of holding Prime Minister's Office

10
20
30
40
50
60
INC
BJP
JD
JP
JP(S)
SJP(R)

See also

Footnotes

  • † Assassinated or died in office
  • § Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term
  • RES Resigned
  • NC Resigned following a no-confidence motion

Notes

  1. ^ 15 including Gulzarilal Nanda who twice acted in the role, of which 7 having at least one full term, ruling country for about 70 years.
  2. ^ Governors-General:
    Lord Louis Mountbatten
    (1947–1948),
    C. Rajagopalachari
    (1948–1950)

References

  1. ^ Pillay, Anashri (2019), "The Constitution of the Republic of India", in Masterman, Roger; Schütze, Robert (eds.), Cambridge Companion to Comparative Constitutional Law, Cambridge University Press, pp. 146–147, doi:10.1017/9781316716731, ISBN 978-1-107-16781-0, LCCN 2019019723, S2CID 219881288, The head of government is the Prime Minister.
  2. ^ Dam, Shubhankar (2016), "Executive", in Choudhry, Sujit; Khosla, Madhav; Mehta, Pratap Bhanu (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 307, ISBN 978-0-19-870489-8, The Prime Minister is the head of government.
  3. ^ Pillay, Anashri (2019), "The Constitution of the Republic of India", in Masterman, Roger; Schütze, Robert (eds.), Cambridge Companion to Comparative Constitutional Law, Cambridge University Press, pp. 146–147, doi:10.1017/9781316716731, ISBN 978-1-107-16781-0, LCCN 2019019723, S2CID 219881288, An elected President is the nominal head of state but exercises little power.
  4. ^ Majeed, Akhtar (2005), "Republic of India", in Kincaid, John; Tarr, G. Alan (eds.), Constitutional Origins, Structure, and Change in Federal Countries, A Global Dialogue on Federalism, Volume I, Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press for Forum of Federation and International Association of Centers for Federal Studies, pp. 180–207, 185, ISBN 0-7735-2849-0, ...The president is the constitutional head. (p. 185)
  5. ^ Dam, Shubhankar (2016), "Executive", in Choudhry, Sujit; Khosla, Madhav; Mehta, Pratap Bhanu (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 307, ISBN 978-0-19-870489-8, The President is the head of the Union of India
  6. ^ a b Singh, Nirvikar (2018), "Holding India Together: The Role of Institutions of Federalism", in Mishra, Ajit; Ray, Tridip (eds.), Markets, Governance, and Institutions: In the Process of Economic Development, Oxford University Press, pp. 300–323, 306, ISBN 978-0-19-881255-5
  7. ^ Majeed, Akhtar (2005), "Republic of India", in Kincaid, John; Tarr, G. Alan (eds.), Constitutional Origins, Structure, and Change in Federal Countries, A Global Dialogue on Federalism, Volume I, Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press for Forum of Federation and International Association of Centers for Federal Studies, pp. 180–207, 185, ISBN 0-7735-2849-0, ...the executive authority is vested in the prime minister and in their Council of Ministers. (p. 185)
  8. ^ Dam, Shubhankar (2016), "Executive", in Choudhry, Sujit; Khosla, Madhav; Mehta, Pratap Bhanu (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 307, ISBN 978-0-19-870489-8, Executive power, ordinarily, is exercised by Prime Minister.
  9. ^ Pillay, Anashri (2019), "The Constitution of the Republic of India", in Masterman, Roger; Schütze, Robert (eds.), Cambridge Companion to Comparative Constitutional Law, Cambridge University Press, pp. 146–147, doi:10.1017/9781316716731, ISBN 978-1-107-16781-0, LCCN 2019019723, S2CID 219881288, ... Like the British system, there are two houses of parliament – the Lok Sabha, which has 545 members, is the main legislative body. In practice, it is the party with a majority in the Lok Sabha which elects its leader as the Prime Minister.
  10. ^ Dam, Shubhankar (2016), "Executive", in Choudhry, Sujit; Khosla, Madhav; Mehta, Pratap Bhanu (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 307, ISBN 978-0-19-870489-8, Along with his or her cabinet, the Prime Minister is responsible to the Lower House of Parliament.
  11. ^ Majeed, Akhtar (2005), "Republic of India", in Kincaid, John; Tarr, G. Alan (eds.), Constitutional Origins, Structure, and Change in Federal Countries, A Global Dialogue on Federalism, Volume I, Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press for Forum of Federation and International Association of Centers for Federal Studies, pp. 180–207, 185, ISBN 0-7735-2849-0, ...Both for the Union and the states, a "cabinet-type" system of parliamentary government has been instituted in which the executive is continuously responsible to the legislature. (p. 185)
  12. ^ Malhotra, Inder (15 January 1995). "Book review: Lal Bahadur Shastri Prime Minister of India 1964-66: A Life of Truth in Politics". India Today. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  13. ^ a b Vijaykumar, Neeti (19 January 2017). "Today in 1966: Indira Gandhi becomes Prime Minister". The Week. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  14. ^ "Before Modi, there was Morarjibhai". Rediff.com. 7 April 2014. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  15. ^ "JD-U demands Bharat Ratna to former PM Charan Singh". The Economic Times. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  16. ^ Denyer, Simon (2 December 2011). "In India, next generation of Gandhi dynasty". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  17. ^ a b Iype, George (3 May 2004). "What the former PMs are doing". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  18. ^ Ghosh, Deepshikha (16 August 2018). "Atal Bihari Vajpayee: The 3-Time PM Who Captivated India With His Oratory". NDTV. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  19. ^ "PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi Greet Manmohan Singh On His 86th Birthday". Outlook. 26 September 2018. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  20. ^ Panda, Ankit (16 May 2014). "BJP, Modi Win Landslide Victory in Indian Elections". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  21. ^ Panda, Anindita Sanyal Updated (21 October 2019). "Election Results: Total BJP Sweep, India Chooses Modi 2.0, Show Leads - 10 Points". NDTV. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  22. ^ Sanyal, Anindita Updated (5 June 2024). "PM Set For Historic 3rd Term, Calls It "Victory Of Biggest Democracy"". NDTV. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  23. ^ Bhattacharya, Snigdhendu Updated (5 June 2024). "Decoding India's Elections: How Modi's Grip Loosened". The Diplomat. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
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