Prime Ministers and Deputy Prime Ministers of India Since Independence

Tap to Read ➤ Renuka Savant

The Prime Minister of India is the chief executive of the Government of India. The Deputy Prime Minister, on the other hand, is not a constitutional post, but is usually held by a member holding an important cabinet portfolio. Historyplex brings you a list of post-independence India's Prime Ministers and their Deputies.

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: INC Elected from: Phulpur

Gulzarilal Nanda

Term: 27 May 1964 - 9 June 1964 11 January 1966 - 24 January 1966 Party: INC Elected from: Sabarkantha

Lal Bahadur Shastri

Term: 9 June 1964 - 11 January 1966 Party: INC Elected from: Allahabad

Indira Gandhi

Term: 24 January 1966 - 24 March 1977 14 January 1980 - 31 October 1984 Party: INC 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: INC 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: INC 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: INC-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: INC Prime Minister: Jawaharlal Nehru Primary post held: Minister of Home Affairs

Morarji Desai

Term: 21 March 1967 - 6 December 1969 Party: INC 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: INC (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