List of Prime Ministers and Deputy Prime Ministers of India Since Independence
Gulzarilal Nanda was the interim Prime Minister of India following the deaths of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964 and Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966. Both his terms culminated after the ruling Indian National Congress party members elected a new Prime Minister.
India has had 15 Prime Ministers since its independence from British rule in 1947. The country’s first Prime Minister was Jawaharlal Nehru, who was sworn-in on the day of India’s independence―August 15, 1947. The Prime Minister is the chief of government, chief adviser to the President of India, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader party or coalition that has a majority in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament.
The post of Deputy Prime Minister is not an official one. It is held by a member of the cabinet who has the Home or Finance portfolio. The position has been brought into effect mostly within a coalition or during times of national emergency, when a chain of command is deemed necessary.
List of Indian Prime Ministers
Jawaharlal Nehru (1947 – 1964) and Dr. Manmohan Singh (2004 – 2014) were the only two prime ministers to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term. Gurzarilal Nanda was the stand-in Prime Minister after the deaths of Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Indira Gandhi was the first and only woman to hold this post in the country, having two terms in office, first from 1966 to 1977 and then from 1980 until her assassination in 1984.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first Prime Minister from a party other than the Indian National Congress (INC) to have completed a full five-year term. He held office for two terms, the first one lasting for a mere 13 days, and the second from 1998 to 2004.
Jawaharlal Nehru Term: 15 August 1947 – 27 May 1964 Party: Indian National Congress Elected from: Phulpur
Gulzarilal Nanda Term: 27 May 1964 – 9 June 1964
11 January 1966 – 24 January 1966 Party: Indian National Congress Elected from: Sabarkantha
Lal Bahadur Shastri Term: 9 June 1964 – 11 January 1966 Party: Indian National Congress Elected from: Allahabad
Indira Gandhi Term: 24 January 1966 – 24 March 1977
14 January 1980 – 31 October 1984 Party: Indian National Congress Elected from: Rae Bareli
Morarji Desai Term: 24 March 1977 – 28 July 1979 Party: Janata Party Elected from: Surat
Charan Singh Term: 28 July 1979 – 14 January 1980 Party: Janata Party combine with INC Elected from: Baghpat
Rajiv Gandhi Term: 31 October 1984 – 2 December 1989 Party: Indian National Congress Elected from: Amethi
V. P. Singh Term: 2 December 1989 – 10 November 1990 Party: Janata Dal National Front Elected from: Fatehpur
Chandra Shekhar Term: 10 November 1990 – 21 June 1991 Party: Samajwadi Janata Party combine with INC Elected from: Ballia
P. V. Narasimha Rao Term: 21 June 1991 – 16 May 1996 Party: Indian National Congress Elected from: Nandyal
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Term: 16 May 1996 – 1 June 1996
19 March 1998 – 19 May 2004 Party: Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA Elected from: Lucknow
H. D. Deve Gowda Term: 1 June 1996 – 21 April 1997 Party: Janata Dal (United Front) Elected from: Rajya Sabha Member from Karnataka
I. K. Gujral Term: 21 April 1997 – 19 March 1998 Party: Janata Dal (United Front) Elected from: Rajya Sabha Member from Bihar
Manmohan Singh Term: 22 May 2004 – 26 May 2014 Party: Indian National Congress-led UPA Elected from: Rajya Sabha Member from Assam
Narendra Modi Term: 26 May 2014 – Party: Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA Elected from: Varanasi
List of Indian Deputy Prime Ministers
The post of Deputy Prime Minister, being an unofficial one, has only been occupied intermittently. The first person to hold the post was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was the Home Minister under Jawaharlal Nehru’s leadership. Thereafter, the country has had only 6 individuals holding the post.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Term: 15 August 1947 – 15 December 1950 Party: Indian National Congress Prime Minister: Jawaharlal Nehru Primary post held: Minister of Home Affairs
Morarji Desai Term: 21 March 1967 – 6 December 1969 Party: Indian National Congress Prime Minister: Indira Gandhi Primary post held: Minister of Finance
Charan Singh Term: 24 March 1977 – 28 July 1979 Party: Janata Party Prime Minister: Morarji Desai Primary post held: Minister of Home Affairs
Minister of Finance
Jagjivan Ram Term: 24 March 1977 – 28 July 1979 Party: Janata Party Prime Minister: Morarji Desai Primary post held: Minister of Defence
Yashwantrao Chavan Term: 28 July 1979 – 14 January 1980 Party: Indian National Congress (Socialist) Prime Minister: Charan Singh Primary post held: Minister of Home Affairs
Chaudhary Devi Lal Term: 2 December 1989 – 21 June 1991 Party: Janata Dal Prime Minister: V. P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar Primary post held: None
L. K. Advani Term: 29 June 2002 – 22 May 2004 Party: Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA Prime Minister: Atal Bihari Vajpayee Primary post held: Minister of Home Affairs
