Prime Minister of India

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The Prime Minister of India is, in practice, the most powerful person in the government of India. The Prime Minister is technically outranked by the President of India, but because the President's duties are largely ceremonial, the Prime Minister has effective responsibility for government.

India follows a parliamentary system of government, modelled after that of the United Kingdom. In this system, the Prime Minister is generally the leader of a party (or coalition of parties) that can gain a majority in the lower house (Lok Sabha) of the Parliament of India.

There have been twelve people who have served as Prime Minister of India. Jawaharlal Nehru served for four terms (1947-1952, 1952-1957, 1957-1962 and 1962-1964). Indira Gandhi served three terms (1966-1971, 1971-1977, and 1980-1983) and Atal Behari Vajpayee served on two separate occasions (1996, 1998-2004). Gulzari Lal Nanda acted Prime Minister during two transition periods, but is generally not counted as a Prime Minister in his own right.

The early years were dominated by the Indian National Congress party, which held the premiership for the first thirty years of India's independence. Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress Prime Minister in 1977. Atal Behari Vajpayee of the Bharatiya Janata Party became that party's first Prime Minister in 1996, and was later returned to power in 1998. The 2004 elections to the Lok Sabha returned the Congress back to power, and Dr. Manmohan Singh was named the Prime Minister-designate on 19 May 2004 after party president Sonia Gandhi declined the post. He was sworn in on May 22, 2004. Singh, a member of the Sikh faith, is the first non-Hindu Prime Minister of India.

The official residence of the Prime Minister of India is 7 Race Course Road.

Name Took Office Left Office Party
1 Jawaharlal Nehru August 15, 1947 May 27, 1964 Indian National Congress
Gulzari Lal Nanda (acting) May 27, 1964 June 9, 1964 Indian National Congress
2 Lal Bahadur Shastri June 9, 1964 January 11, 1966 Indian National Congress
Gulzari Lal Nanda (acting), 2nd time January 11, 1966 January 24, 1966 Indian National Congress
3 Indira Gandhi January 24, 1966 March 24, 1977 Indian National Congress
4 Morarji Desai March 24, 1977 July 28, 1979 Janata Party
5 Choudhary Charan Singh July 28, 1979 January 14, 1980 Janata Party
Indira Gandhi, 2nd time January 14, 1980 October 31, 1984 Indian National Congress
6 Rajiv Gandhi October 31, 1984 December 2, 1989 Indian National Congress
7 V. P. Singh December 2, 1989 November 10, 1990 Janata Dal
8 Chandra Shekhar November 10, 1990 June 21, 1991 Janata Dal
9 P. V. Narasimha Rao June 21, 1991 May 16, 1996 Indian National Congress
10 Atal Behari Vajpayee May 16, 1996 June 1, 1996 Bharatiya Janata Party
11 H. D. Deve Gowda June 1, 1996 April 21, 1997 Janata Dal
12 I. K. Gujral April 21, 1997 March 19, 1998 Janata Dal
Atal Behari Vajpayee, 2nd time March 19, 1998 May 22, 2004 Bharatiya Janata Party
13 Dr. Manmohan Singh May 22, 2004 Indian National Congress