The prime minister of India is the chief executive of the Government of India and chair of the Union Council of Ministers. Although the president of India is the constitutional, nominal, and ceremonial head of state, in practice and ordinarily, the executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers. The prime minister is the leader elected by the party or alliance 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. The prime minister and their cabinet are at all times responsible to the Lok Sabha. The prime minister can be a member of either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the parliament. The prime minister ranks third in the order of precedence.

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.

India has had 14 prime ministers. Jawaharlal Nehru was India's first prime minister. Beginning from 1946, Nehru secured a major victory in 1946 Indian Constituent Assembly election and served as prime minister of the Interim Government of India during the British Raj from 2 September 1946 until 14 August 1947. Earlier, his party the Indian National Congress won the 1946 Indian provincial elections. He served as the 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. 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. Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter, succeeded Shastri in 1966 to become the country's first female prime minister. 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. 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. Her second term as prime minister ended five years later on 31 October 1984, when she was assassinated by her bodyguards. Her son Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as India's youngest premier. Members of NehruGandhi family have been prime minister for approximately 38 years. 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. 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.

In 1999, Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party led 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.

The Indian National 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.

The Bharatiya Janata Party won the 2014 Indian general election, and its parliamentary leader Narendra Modi formed the first non-Congress single-party majority government. The BJP retained power in the 2019 Indian general election with an expanded majority, granting a second term for the incumbent government. Following the 2024 Indian general election, Modi was sworn in for a third consecutive term as prime minister, heading a coalition government after the BJP lost its outright majority in the Lok Sabha.

List

Key No.: Incumbent number Assassinated or died in office Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term Resigned Resigned following a no-confidence motion

PortraitName(borndied)Constituency Age when assumed officeTerm of officeElection Concurrent ministerial positionsParty MinistryHead of State Jawaharlal Nehru 57 years 274 days 1947 1964 16 years 286 days Nehru I 1951–52 Nehru II 1957 Nehru III 1962 Nehru IV Gulzarilal Nanda 1964 1964 Nanda I Lal Bahadur Shastri 59 years 251 days 1964 1966 Shastri Gulzarilal Nanda 1966 1966 Nanda II Indira Gandhi 1966 1977 Indira I 1967Indira II 1971 Indira III Morarji Desai 1977 1979 1977 Desai Charan Singh 1979 1980 None Charan Indira Gandhi 1980 1984 1980 Indira IV Rajiv Gandhi 1984 1989 Rajiv I 1984 Rajiv II V. P. Singh 1989 1990 1989 Vishwanath Chandra Shekhar 1990 1991 Chandra Shekhar P. V. Narasimha Rao 1991 1996 1991 Rao Atal Bihari Vajpayee 1996 1996 1996 Vajpayee I H. D. Deve Gowda 1996 1997 Deve Gowda Inder Kumar Gujral 1997 1998 Gujral Atal Bihari Vajpayee 1998 2004 1998 Vajpayee II 1999Vajpayee III Manmohan Singh 2004 2014 2004 Manmohan I 2009Manmohan II Narendra Modi 2014 2014 Modi I 2019Modi II 2024 Modi III

List of prime ministers by length of term

Name Party Length of term Longest continuous term Total years of premiership INC 16 years, 286 days INC/INC(I)/INC(R) 11 years, 59 days 15 years, 350 days BJP INC 10 years, 4 days BJP 6 years, 64 days 6 years, 80 days INC(I) 5 years, 32 days 4 years, 330 days JP 2 years, 126 days INC 1 year, 216 days JD 343 days 332 days 324 days SJP(R) 223 days JP(S) 170 days INC 13 days 26 days

Timeline

Lifespan of prime ministers

List by party

+Political parties by total timespan of their member holding PMO (as of ) Political party Number of Prime ministers Total years of holding PMO 1 INC/INC(I)/INC(R) 7 54 years, 166 days 2 BJP 2 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

See also

Nehru–Gandhi family Prime minister of India President of India Vice President of India List of presidents of India List of vice presidents of India List of deputy prime ministers of India List of prime ministers of India by previous experience List of heads of state and government of Indian origin

Footnotes Assassinated or died in office Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term Resigned Resigned following a no-confidence motion

Notes

References

External links Prime Minister of India