List of prime ministers of India

The Prime Minister of India is the chief executive of the Government of India. In India's parliamentary system, the Constitution names the President as head of state de jure, but his or her de facto executive powers are vested in the prime minister and their Council of Ministers. Appointed and sworn-in by the President, the prime minister is usually the leader of the party or alliance that has a majority in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament of India.[1]

Since 1947 India has had 14 prime ministers, 15 including Gulzarilal Nanda who twice acted in the role, of which 6 having at least one full term, ruling country for about 60 years.[2] The first was Jawaharlal Nehru of the Indian National Congress party, who was sworn in on 15 August 1947, when India gained independence from the British Raj.[3] Serving until his death in May 1964, Nehru remains India's longest-serving prime minister. He was succeeded by fellow Congressman Lal Bahadur Shastri, whose 1 year 7-month term also ended in death.[4] Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter, succeeded Shastri in 1966 to become the country's first woman prime minister.[5] Eleven years later, she was voted out of power in favour of the Janata Party, whose leader Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress prime minister.[6] After he resigned in 1979, his former deputy Charan Singh briefly held office until Indira Gandhi was voted back six months later.[7] Her second stint as prime minister ended five years later on 31 October 1984, when she was assassinated by her own bodyguards.[5] Her son Rajiv Gandhi was then sworn in as India's youngest premier and the third from his family. Members of Nehru–Gandhi family have been prime minister for a total of 37 years and 303 days.[8]

Rajiv's five-year term ended with his former cabinet colleague, Vishwanath Pratap Singh of the Janata Dal, forming 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.[9] 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 19 months in 1998–99.[9] After Vajpayee was sworn-in for the third time, in 1999, he managed to lead his National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to a full five-year term, the first non-Congress alliance to do so.[10] Vajpayee was succeeded by Manmohan Singh, whose United Progressive Alliance government was in office for 10 years between 2004 and 2014.[11] The incumbent prime minister of India is Narendra Modi who has headed the BJP-led NDA government since 26 May 2014, is India's first non-Congress single party majority government.[12] In August 2020, Modi became India's longest serving non-Congress Prime Minister.[13]

List

Key №: 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

BJP (2)[lower-alpha 1]   INC/INC (I)/INC (R)[lower-alpha 2] (6+1 acting[lower-alpha 3])   JD (3)   JP (1)   JP (S) (1)   SJP (R) (1)
No.	Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Constituency	Party (Alliance)	Term of office[15]			Lok Sabha[lower-alpha 4]	Cabinet	Appointed by
1			Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964)	Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh	Indian National Congress	15 August 1947	15 April 1952	16 years, 286 days	Constituent Assembly[lower-alpha 5]	Nehru I	Lord Mountbatten
						15 April 1952	17 April 1957		1st	Nehru II	Rajendra Prasad
						17 April 1957	2 April 1962		2nd	Nehru III
						2 April 1962	27 May 1964†		3rd	Nehru IV
–			Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) (1898–1998)	Sabarkantha, Gujarat	Indian National Congress	27 May 1964	9 June 1964	13 days		Nanda I	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
2			Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904–1966)	Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh	Indian National Congress	9 June 1964	11 January 1966†	1 year, 216 days		Shastri I
–			Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) (1898–1998)	Sabarkantha, Gujarat	Indian National Congress	11 January 1966	24 January 1966	13 days		Nanda II
3			Indira Gandhi (1917–1984)	Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh	Indian National Congress	24 January 1966	4 March 1967	11 years, 59 days		Indira I
				Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh	Indian National Congress (R)	4 March 1967	15 March 1971		4th
						15 March 1971	24 March 1977		5th	Indira II	V. V. Giri
4			Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (1896–1995)	Surat, Gujarat	Janata Party	24 March 1977	28 July 1979^[RES]	2 years, 126 days	6th	Desai	B. D. Jatti (acting)
5			Chaudhary Charan Singh (1902–1987)	Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh	Janata Party (Secular)	28 July 1979	14 January 1980^[RES]	170 days		Charan	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
(3)			Indira Gandhi (1917–1984)	Medak, Andhra Pradesh	Indian National Congress (I)	14 January 1980^[§]	31 October 1984†	4 years, 291 days	7th	Indira III
6			Rajiv Gandhi (1944–1991)	Amethi, Uttar Pradesh	Indian National Congress (I)	31 October 1984	31 December 1984	5 years, 32 days		Rajiv	Zail Singh
						31 December 1984	2 December 1989		8th
7			Vishwanath Pratap Singh (1931–2008)	Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh	Janata Dal (National Front)	2 December 1989	10 November 1990^[NC]	343 days	9th	Vishwanath	R. Venkataraman
8			Chandra Shekhar (1927–2007)	Ballia, Uttar Pradesh	Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) with INC(I)	10 November 1990	21 June 1991^[RES]	223 days		Chandra Shekhar
9			Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (1921–2004)	Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh	Indian National Congress (I)	21 June 1991	16 May 1996	4 years, 330 days	10th	Rao
10			Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018)	Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh	Bharatiya Janata Party	16 May 1996	1 June 1996^[RES]	16 days	11th	Vajpayee I	Shankar Dayal Sharma
11			Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (1933–)	Rajya Sabha MP for Karnataka	Janata Dal (United Front)	1 June 1996	21 April 1997^[RES]	324 days		Deve Gowda
12			Inder Kumar Gujral (1919–2012)	Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar	Janata Dal (United Front)	21 April 1997	19 March 1998	332 days		Gujral
(10)			Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018)	Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh	Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA)	19 March 1998^[§]	10 October 1999	6 years, 64 days	12th	Vajpayee II	K. R. Narayanan
						10 October 1999	22 May 2004		13th	Vajpayee III
13			Manmohan Singh (1932–)	Rajya Sabha MP for Assam	Indian National Congress (UPA)	22 May 2004	22 May 2009	10 years, 4 days	14th	Manmohan I	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
						22 May 2009	26 May 2014		15th	Manmohan II	Pratibha Patil
14			Narendra Damodardas Modi (1950–)	Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh	Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA)	26 May 2014	30 May 2019	6 years, 253 days	16th	Modi I	Pranab Mukherjee
						30 May 2019	Incumbent		17th	Modi II	Ram Nath Kovind
No.	Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Constituency	Party (Alliance)	Term of office			Lok Sabha	Cabinet	Appointed by

Timeline

List of Prime ministers by length of tenure

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	Manmohan Singh	INC	10 years, 4 days	10 years, 4 days
4	Narendra Modi	BJP	6 years, 253 days	6 years, 253 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 (acting)	INC	13 days	26 days

Lists by party

Following is the summary of hold of Prime Minister's office by members of Indian political parties. The displayed data is as of 1 February 2021.

No.	Political party	Number of Prime ministers	Total years of holding PMO
1	INC/INC(I)/INC(R)	6+1 acting	54 years, 123 days
2	BJP	2	12 years, 331 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 Office

10

20

30

40

50

60

INC

BJP

JD

JP

JD(S)

SJP(R)

•   INC/INC(I)/INC(R)
•   BJP
•   JD
•   JP
•   JD(S)
•   SJP(R)

Living former Prime ministers

As of 3 February 2021, there are two living former Prime ministers of India:

• Living former prime ministers
• 
  H. D. Deve Gowda (1996-1997)
  May 18, 1933
• 
  Manmohan Singh (2004-2014)
  September 26, 1932

The most recent death of a former Prime Minister was that of Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 16 August 2018, aged 93.[16]

See also

• President of India
• Vice President of India
• Deputy Prime Minister of India
• List of presidents of India
• List of vice presidents of India
• List of prime ministers of India by education
• List of prime ministers of India by longevity
• List of prime ministers of India by previous experience
• List of heads of state and government of Indian origin

Footnotes

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

Citations

1. In office
2. Known as Indian National Congress (R) in 1969–1978 Indian National Congress (I) in 1978-96. [14]
3. Gulzarilal Nanda twice appointed as acting Prime minister of India following deaths of two prime ministers.
4. Although the Prime Minister can be a member of either house of the Parliament, they have to command the confidence of the Lok Sabha. Upon dissolution of the Lok Sabha, the outgoing PM remains in office until their successor is sworn in.
5. The Constituent Assembly of India consisted of 389 members elected in 1946 by the provincial assemblies by a single, transferable-vote system of proportional representation. The Assembly was replaced by the Provisional Parliament of India after adoption of the Constitution on 26 January 1950 until the first general elections.

References

1. Pylee, M.V. (2003). Constitutional Government in India. S. Chand Publishing. p. 252. ISBN 9788121922036. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
2. Mahurkar, Uday (15 May 1996). "At 98, two-time interim PM Gulzarilal Nanda is the epitome of Gandhian ideals". India Today. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
3. Ramasheshan, Radhika (26 January 2012). "Why January 26: the history of the day". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. "Before Modi, there was Morarjibhai". Rediff.com. 7 April 2014. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
7. "JD-U demands Bharat Ratna to former PM Charan Singh". The Economic Times. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. "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.
12. 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.
13. "PM Modi Becomes Longest Serving Non-Congress Prime Minister". NDTV.com. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
14. Statistical Report on General Elections, 1980 to the Seventh Lok Sabha (PDF). New Delhi: Election Commission of India. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
15. "Former Prime Ministers". PM India. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
16. Staffer, T. I. S. (16 August 2018). "Atal Bihari Vajpayee: A Man Of Moderation Who Raised India's Global Stature". The India Saga. Retrieved 16 July 2020.

External links

Prime Minister of India