List of prime ministers of India

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Template:Pp Template:Short description Template:Top icon Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Indian English Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists 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. Script error: No such module "Multiple image".

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.Template:Efn 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

  1. REDIRECT Template:En dash

Template:R protectedGandhi 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, V. P. 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 (UPA) 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 went on to win the 2019 Indian general election with a bigger margin, granting a second term for the incumbent Modi government.[21] After the 2024 Indian general election, Modi became the prime minister for the third consecutive time, leading a coalition government after the BJP lost its majority, only the second to do so after the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.[22][23]

List of prime ministers of India

Key
  • No.: Incumbent number
  • <templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/> Assassinated or died in office
  • <templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>§ Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term
  • <templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>RES Resigned
  • <templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>NC Resigned following a no-confidence motion
  • <templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>DIS Dismissed by the Head of State


Portrait Name
(bornTemplate:Spaced ndashdied)
Constituency
Age when assumed office Term of office
Duration in years and daysScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Election Concurrent ministerial positions Party Ministry Head of State
(Tenure)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Jawaharlal Nehru, 1947.jpg Jawaharlal Nehru
(1889–1964)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
MP for United Provinces
(1947–1952) and Phulpur
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
57 years 274 days 15 August

1947

27 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1964<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[†]
16 years 286 days Template:Ndash Template:Bulleted list Template:Full party name with color Nehru I King George VI
(1947Template:Ndash1950)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Rajendra Prasad
(1950Template:Ndash1962)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1951–52 Nehru II
1957 Nehru III
1962 Nehru IV Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
(1962Template:Ndash1967)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Gulzarilal Nanda 1.jpg Gulzarilal Nanda (acting)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
(1898–1998)
MP for Sabarkantha
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 27 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1964
9 JuneScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1964<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[DIS]
Template:Age in years and days Template:Ndash Template:Bulleted list Nanda I
File:Lal Bahadur Shastri (cropped).jpg Lal Bahadur Shastri
(1904–1966)
MP for Allahabad
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
59 years

251 days

9 JuneScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1964
11 JanuaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1966<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[†]
Template:Age in years and days Template:Ndash Template:Bulleted list Shastri
File:Gulzarilal Nanda 1.jpg Gulzarilal Nanda (acting)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
(1898–1998)
MP for Sabarkantha
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 11 JanuaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1966
24 JanuaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1966<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[DIS]
Template:Age in years and days Template:Ndash Template:Bulleted list Nanda II
File:Indira Gandhi official portrait.png Indira Gandhi
(1917–1984)
MP for Uttar Pradesh
(Rajya Sabha, 1966Template:Ndash1967)
MP for Rae Bareli (1967Template:Ndash1977)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 24 JanuaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1966
24 MarchScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1977<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[DIS]
Template:Age in years and days Template:Ndash Template:Bulleted list Indira I
1967 Indira II Zakir Husain
(1967Template:Ndash1969)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
V. V. Giri
(1969) (Acting)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
M. Hidayatullah
(1969) (Acting)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
V. V. Giri
(1969Template:Ndash1974)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1971 Template:Full party name with color Indira III
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
(1974Template:Ndash1977)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
B. D. Jatti
(1977) (Acting)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".'
File:Morarji Desai During his visit to the United States of America (cropped).jpg Morarji Desai
(1896–1995)
MP for Surat
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 24 MarchScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1977
28 JulyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1979<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[RES]
Template:Age in years and days 1977 Template:Bulleted list Template:Full party name with color Desai
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
(1977Template:Ndash1982)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Prime minister Charan Singh.jpg Charan Singh
(1902–1987)
MP for Baghpat
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 28 JulyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1979
14 JanuaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1980<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[RES]
Template:Age in years and days Template:Ndash None Template:Full party name with color Charan
File:Indira Gandhi official portrait.png Indira Gandhi
(1917–1984)
MP for Medak
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 14 JanuaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1980<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[§]
31 OctoberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1984<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[†]
Template:Age in years and days 1980 Template:Bulleted list Template:Full party name with color Indira IV
Giani Zail Singh
(1982-1987)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Rajiv Gandhi (1).jpg Rajiv Gandhi
(1944–1991)
MP for Amethi
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 31 OctoberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1984
2 DecemberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1989<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[DIS]
Template:Age in years and days Template:Ndash Template:Bulleted list Rajiv I
1984 Rajiv II Ramaswamy Venkataraman
(1987Template:Ndash1992)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Visit of Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Indian Minister for Trade, to the CEC (cropped).jpg V. P. Singh
(1931–2008)
MP for Fatehpur
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 2 DecemberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1989
10 NovemberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1990<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[NC]
Template:Age in years and days 1989 Template:Bulleted list Template:Full party name with color Vishwanath
File:Chandra Shekhar Singh 2010 stamp alt.jpg Chandra Shekhar
(1927–2007)
MP for Ballia
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 10 NovemberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1990
21 JuneScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1991<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[RES]
Template:Age in years and days Template:Ndash Template:Bulleted list Template:Full party name with color Chandra Shekhar
File:Visit of Narasimha Rao, Indian Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the CEC (cropped)(2).jpg P. V. Narasimha Rao
(1921–2004)
MP for Nandyal
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 21 JuneScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1991
16 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1996<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[DIS]
Template:Age in years and days 1991 Template:Bulleted list Template:Full party name with color Rao
Shankar Dayal Sharma
(1992Template:Ndash1997)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Atal Bihari Vajpayee (crop 2).jpg Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 16 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1996
1 JuneScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1996<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[RES]
Template:Age in years and days 1996 Template:Bulleted list Template:Full party name with color Vajpayee I
File:HD Devegowda.png H. D. Deve Gowda
(born 1933)
MP for Karnataka (Rajya Sabha)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 1 JuneScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1996
21 AprilScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1997<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[RES]
Template:Age in years and days Template:Ndash Template:Bulleted list Template:Full party name with color
(United Front)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Deve Gowda
File:Inder Kumar Gujral.jpg Inder Kumar Gujral
(1919–2012)
MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 21 AprilScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1997
19 MarchScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1998<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[RES]
Template:Age in years and days Template:Ndash Template:Bulleted list Gujral
K. R. Narayanan
(1997Template:Ndash2002)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Atal Bihari Vajpayee (crop 2).jpg Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 19 MarchScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1998<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[§]
22 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2004<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[DIS]
Template:Age in years and days 1998 Template:Bulleted list Template:Full party name with color
(National Democratic Alliance)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Vajpayee II
1999 Vajpayee III
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
(2002Template:Ndash2007)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Official Portrait of the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh (3x4 cropped).jpg Manmohan Singh
(1932–2024)
MP for Assam (Rajya Sabha)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 22 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2004
26 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2014<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>[DIS]
Template:Age in years and days 2004 Template:Bulleted list Template:Full party name with color
(United Progressive Alliance)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Manmohan I
Pratibha Patil
(2007Template:Ndash2012)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2009 Manmohan II
Pranab Mukherjee
(2012Template:Ndash2017)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.jpg
Narendra Modi
(born 1950)
MP for Varanasi
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Age in years and days 26 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2014
IncumbentScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Template:Age in years and days 2014 Template:Bulleted list Template:Full party name with color
(National Democratic Alliance)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Modi I
Ram Nath Kovind
(2017Template:Ndash2022)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2019 Modi II
Droupadi Murmu
(2022Template:Ndashpresent)
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2024 Modi III

List of prime ministers by length of term

Name Party Length of term
Longest continuous term Total years of premiership
Script error: No such module "Sort". style="background-color:Template:Party color"| INC 16 years, 286 days
Script error: No such module "Sort". style="background-color:Template:Party color"| INC/INC(I)/INC(R) 11 years, 59 days 15 years, 350 days
Script error: No such module "Sort". style="background-color:Template:Party color" | BJP Template:Age in years and days
Script error: No such module "Sort". style="background-color:Template:Party color"| INC 10 years, 4 days
Script error: No such module "Sort". style="background-color:Template:Party color"| BJP 6 years, 64 days 6 years, 80 days
Script error: No such module "Sort". rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color"| INC(I) 5 years, 32 days
Script error: No such module "Sort". 4 years, 330 days
Script error: No such module "Sort". style="background-color:Template:Party color"| JP 2 years, 126 days
Script error: No such module "Sort". style="background-color:Template:Party color"| INC 1 year, 216 days
Script error: No such module "Sort". rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color"| JD 343 days
Script error: No such module "Sort". 332 days
Script error: No such module "Sort". 324 days
Script error: No such module "Sort". style="background-color:Template:Party color"| SJP(R) 223 days
Script error: No such module "Sort". style="background-color:Template:Party color"| JP(S) 170 days
Script error: No such module "Sort". (acting)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". style="background-color:Template:Party color"| INC 13 days 26 days
Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:13 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:70 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late

Colors =

 id:INC    value:rgb(0,0.74902,1) legend:Indian_National_Congress
 id:JD     value:Green            legend:Janata_Dal
 id:JP     value:blue             legend:Janata_Party
 id:JP(S)  value:purple           legend:Janata_Party_(Secular)
 id:SJP(R) value:rgb(0,1,0.2)     legend:Samajwadi_Janata_Party_(Rashtriya)
 id:BJP    value:rgb(1,0.6,0.2)   legend:Bharatiya_Janata_Party
 id:gray1 value:gray(0.7)
 id:gray2 value:gray(0.9)

Define $today = 05/05/2026

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:15/07/1947 till:$today TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1950 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1948

Legend = columns:1 left:150 top:44 columnwidth:200

TextData =

 pos:(20,47) textcolor:black fontsize:M
 text:"Political Party:"

BarData =

bar:Nehru
bar:Nanda
bar:Shastri
bar:IGandhi
bar:Desai
bar:CSingh
bar:RGandhi
bar:VPSingh
bar:ChandraShekhar
bar:Rao
bar:Vajpayee
bar:DeveGowda
bar:Gujral
bar:MSingh
bar:Modi

PlotData=

width:5 align:left fontsize:8 shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Nehru
 from: 15/08/1947 till: 27/05/1964 color:INC text:"Jawaharlal Nehru" 
bar:Nanda
 from: 27/05/1964 till: 09/06/1964 color:INC
 from: 11/01/1966 till: 24/01/1966 color:INC text:" Gulzarilal Nanda (acting)"
bar:Shastri
 from: 09/06/1964 till: 11/01/1966 color:INC text:"Lal Bahadur Shastri" 
bar:IGandhi 
 from: 24/01/1966 till: 24/03/1977 color:INC
 from: 14/01/1980 till: 31/10/1984 color:INC text:"Indira Gandhi"
bar:Desai
 from: 24/03/1977 till: 28/07/1979 color:JP text:"Morarji Desai" 
bar:CSingh
 from: 28/07/1979 till: 14/01/1980 color:JP(S) text:"Charan Singh"
bar:RGandhi
 from:31/10/1984 till: 02/12/1989 color:INC text:"Rajiv Gandhi" 
bar:VPSingh
 from: 02/12/1989 till: 10/11/1990 color:JD text:"V. P. Singh"
bar:ChandraShekhar
 from: 10/11/1990 till: 21/06/1991 color:SJP(R) text:"Chandra Shekhar" 
bar:Rao
 from: 21/06/1991 till: 16/05/1996 color:INC text:"P. V. Narasimha Rao"
bar:Vajpayee
 from: 16/05/1996 till: 01/06/1996 color:BJP
 from: 19/03/1998 till: 22/05/2004 color:BJP text:"Atal Bihari Vajpayee"
bar:DeveGowda
 from: 01/06/1996 till: 21/04/1997 color:JD text:"H. D. Deve Gowda"
bar:Gujral
 from: 21/04/1997 till: 19/03/1998 color:JD text:"Inder Kumar Gujral" 
bar:MSingh
 from: 22/05/2004 till: 26/05/2014 color:INC text:"Manmohan Singh"
bar:Modi
 from: 26/05/2014 till: $today     color:BJP text:"Narendra Modi"

</timeline>

Lifespan of prime ministers

Template:Lifespan prime minister of India

List by party

Template:Pie chart

Political parties by total timespan of their member holding PMO (as of 5 May 2026)
<templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />No.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Political party Number of Prime ministers Total years of holding PMO
1 INC/INC(I)/INC(R) 7Template:Efn 54 years, 166 days
2 BJP 2 Template:Age in years and 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

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See also

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Footnotes

  • <templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/> Assassinated or died in office
  • <templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>§ Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term
  • <templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>RES Resigned
  • <templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>NC Resigned following a no-confidence motion

Notes

Template:Notelist

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

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External links

Script error: No such module "navbox". Template:Indian federal ministries Template:Lists of prime ministers Template:Union ministries of India