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]

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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]

List of prime ministers of India
     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[14] Appointed by Lok Sabha[lower-alpha 4] Cabinet
1 Jawaharlal Nehru
(1889–1964)
 Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh Indian National Congress 15 August 1947 15 April 1952 16 years, 286 days Lord Mountbatten Constituent Assembly[lower-alpha 5] Nehru I
15 April 1952 17 April 1957 Rajendra Prasad 1st Nehru II
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 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Nanda I
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 V. V. Giri 5th Indira II
4 Morarji Desai
(1896–1995)
 Surat, Gujarat Janata Party 24 March 1977 28 July 1979[RES] 2 years, 126 days B. D. Jatti
(acting)		 6th Desai
5 Charan Singh
(1902–1987)
 Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh Janata Party (Secular)
with INC (I)		 28 July 1979 14 January 1980[RES] 170 days Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Charan
(3) Indira Gandhi
(1917–1984)
 Medak, Andhra Pradesh
(now Telangana)		 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 Zail Singh Rajiv
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 Ramaswamy Venkataraman 9th Vishwanath
8 Chandra Shekhar
(1927–2007)
 Ballia, Uttar Pradesh Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)
with INC (I)		 10 November 1990 21 June 1991[lower-alpha 6] 223 days Chandra Shekhar
9 P. V. 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 Shankar Dayal Sharma 11th Vajpayee I
11 H. D. 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 K. R. Narayanan 12th Vajpayee II
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 A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 14th Manmohan I
22 May 2009 26 May 2014 Pratibha Patil 15th Manmohan II
14 Narendra Modi
(1950–)
 Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party
(NDA)		 26 May 2014 30 May 2019 6 years, 33 days Pranab Mukherjee 16th Modi I
30 May 2019 Incumbent Ram Nath Kovind 17th Modi II

Timeline
Narendra ModiManmohan SinghAtal Bihari VajpayeeInder Kumar GujralH. D. Deve GowdaAtal Bihari VajpayeeP. V. Narasimha RaoChandra ShekharVishwanath Pratap SinghRajiv GandhiIndira GandhiCharan SinghMorarji DesaiIndira GandhiGulzarilal NandaLal Bahadur ShastriGulzarilal NandaJawaharlal Nehru

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 Atal Bihari Vajpayee BJP 6 years, 64 days 6 years, 80 days
5 Narendra Modi BJP 6 years, 33 days 6 years, 33 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

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 31 May 2020.

No. Political party Number of Prime ministers Total years of holding PMO
1 Indian National Congress/Indian National Congress (I)/Indian National Congress (R) 6 54 years, 123 days
2 Bharatiya Janata Party 2 12 years, 85 days
3 Janata Dal 3 2 years, 269 days
4 Janata Party 1 2 years, 126 days
5 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) 1 223 days
6 Janata Party (Secular) 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)

Living former Prime ministers

As of 28 June 2020, there are two living former Prime ministers of India:

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

See also

Notes
  1. In office
  2. Known as Indian National Congress (R) in 1969–1978 Indian National Congress (I) in 1978-96. [13]
  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.
  6. Chandra Shekhar officially resigned as Prime Minister on 13 March 1991, but he and his ministers continued in office until Rao succeeded him.

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

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. 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.
  14. "Former Prime Ministers". PM India. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015.

Prime Minister of India

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