List of prime ministers of India

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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,[1][3][4][5] in practice and ordinarily, the executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers.[6][7][5] 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.[1] The prime minister and their cabinet are at all times responsible to the Lok Sabha.[8][9] 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.

Notable Prime Ministers of India
Jawaharlal Nehru
File:Indira Gandhi face detail, from- Indira Gandhi and the Johnsons at the North Portico of the White House (cropped).tif
Charan Singh
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Manmohan Singh
Narendra Modi
Top left to right: Jawaharlal Nehru (first PM); Indira Gandhi (first female PM); Charan Singh (only PM to never face parliament).
Bottom left to right: Atal Bihari Vajpayee (first non-Congress PM to serve a full term); Manmohan Singh (first PM from a minority religion); Narendra Modi (longest-serving continuously elected PM).

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.[lower-alpha 1] 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 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.[10] Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter, succeeded Shastri in 1966 to become the country's first female prime minister.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13] Her second term as prime minister ended five years later on 31 October 1984, when she was assassinated by her bodyguards.[11] Her son Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as India's youngest premier. Members of the Nehru–Gandhi family have been prime minister for approximately 38 years.[14]

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.[15] 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.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17] The BJP won the 2014 Indian general election, and its parliamentary leader Narendra Modi formed the first non-Congress single-party majority government.[18] The BJP went on to win the 2019 Indian general election with a bigger margin, granting a second term for the incumbent Modi government.[19] 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.[20][21] On 10 June 2026, Modi surpassed Jawaharlal Nehru's record of 4,398 days to officially become the longest-serving continuously elected prime minister in India's history.[22]

List of Prime Ministers of India[edit | edit source]

;Key

  • No.: Incumbent number
  • – : Acting Prime Minister
  • † Assassinated or died in office
  • § Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term
  • RES Resigned mid-term
  • NC Resigned following a no-confidence motion
  • DIS Dismissed by the Head of State
Parties

  Indian National Congress   Janata Party   Janata Party (Secular)   Janata Dal   Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)   Bharatiya Janata Party

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No. Portrait Name
Constituency
Age when assumed office 		Term of office
Electoral mandates
Time in office 		Appointer(s)
(Head of State) 		Political party
of PM 		Government
Ministry & Lok Sabha 		Head(s) of State
Concurrent President(s)
1 Jawaharlal Nehru
Phulpur
57 years, 274 days 		15 August
1947 (Acting)

13 May 1952 (Formal)

27 May
1964[†] 		Lord Mountbatten (1947)
Rajendra Prasad (1952, 1957, 1962) 		Indian National Congress Nehru I, II, III, IV 1st, 2nd, 3rd L. Mountbatten (1947–1948)
Constituent Assembly, 1951–52, 1957, 1962 C. Rajagopalachari (1948–1950)
4 years, 272 days (Acting)

12 years, 14 days (Formal)

Rajendra Prasad (1950–1962)
First and longest-serving Prime Minister of India. Died in office.[23] S. Radhakrishnan (1962–1967)
– Gulzarilal Nanda
Sabarkantha
(Acting)
65 years, 328 days 		27 May
1964 		9 June
1964 		S. Radhakrishnan (1964) Indian National Congress Nanda I 3rd
—
13 days
Appointed acting Prime Minister following Nehru's death.[23]
2 Lal Bahadur Shastri
Allahabad
59 years, 251 days 		9 June
1964 		11 January
1966[†] 		S. Radhakrishnan (1964) Indian National Congress Shastri 3rd
—
1 year, 216 days
Led India during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Died in office in Tashkent.[23]
– Gulzarilal Nanda
Sabarkantha
(Acting)
67 years, 191 days 		11 January
1966 		24 January
1966 		S. Radhakrishnan (1966) Indian National Congress Nanda II 3rd
—
13 days
Appointed acting Prime Minister for a second time following Shastri's death.[23]
3 Indira Gandhi
Rae Bareli
48 years, 66 days 		24 January
1966 		24 March
1977[DIS] 		S. Radhakrishnan (1966, 1967)
V. V. Giri (1971) 		Indian National Congress (Requisitionists) Indira I, II, III 3rd, 4th, 5th
1967, 1971 Zakir Husain (1967–1969)
11 years, 59 days V. V. Giri (1969)
M. Hidayatullah (1969)
V. V. Giri (1969–1974)
First female Prime Minister. Centralized power, nationalized banks, and imposed the State of Emergency in 1975.[23] F. A. Ahmed (1974–1977)
4 Morarji Desai
Surat
81 years, 24 days 		24 March
1977 		28 July
1979[RES] 		B. D. Jatti (1977, acting) Janata Party Desai 6th B. D. Jatti (1977)
1977 N. Sanjiva Reddy (1977–1982)
2 years, 126 days
First non-Congress Prime Minister of India. Resigned mid-term.[23]
5 Charan Singh
Baghpat
76 years, 217 days 		28 July
1979 		14 January
1980[RES] 		N. Sanjiva Reddy (1979) Janata Party (Secular) Charan 6th
—
170 days
Resigned before facing a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha.[23]
(3) Indira Gandhi
Medak
62 years, 56 days 		14 January
1980[§] 		31 October
1984[†] 		N. Sanjiva Reddy (1980) Indian National Congress Indira IV 7th
1980
4 years, 291 days Zail Singh (1982–1987)
Returned for a second tenure. Assassinated in office.[23]
6 File:Rajiv Gandhi (1).jpg Rajiv Gandhi
Amethi
40 years, 72 days 		31 October
1984 		2 December
1989 		Zail Singh (1984, 1984) Indian National Congress Rajiv I, II 8th
1984
5 years, 32 days R. Venkataraman (1987–1992)
Youngest Prime Minister of India. Led Congress to its largest ever electoral majority.[23]
7 V. P. Singh
Fatehpur
58 years, 160 days 		2 December
1989 		10 November
1990[NC] 		R. Venkataraman (1989) Janata Dal Vishwanath 9th
1989
343 days
Implemented the Mandal Commission report. Resigned following a no-confidence motion.[23]
8 Chandra Shekhar
Ballia
63 years, 207 days 		10 November
1990 		21 June
1991[RES] 		R. Venkataraman (1990) Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar 9th
—
223 days
Headed a minority government supported from the outside by Congress.[23]
9 P. V. Narasimha Rao
Nandyal
69 years, 358 days 		21 June
1991 		16 May
1996 		R. Venkataraman (1991) Indian National Congress Rao 10th
1991 S. D. Sharma (1992–1997)
4 years, 330 days
Overseer of major economic liberalization in India.[23]
10 Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Lucknow
71 years, 143 days 		16 May
1996 		1 June
1996[RES] 		S. D. Sharma (1996) Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I 11th
1996
16 days
Resigned after 16 days as he could not prove majority support.[23]
11 H. D. Deve Gowda
Karnataka (Rajya Sabha)
63 years, 14 days 		1 June
1996 		21 April
1997[RES] 		S. D. Sharma (1996) Janata Dal Deve Gowda 11th
—
324 days
First Prime Minister from Karnataka; headed the United Front government.[23]
12 Inder Kumar Gujral
Bihar (Rajya Sabha)
77 years, 138 days 		21 April
1997 		19 March
1998[RES] 		S. D. Sharma (1997) Janata Dal Gujral 11th
— K. R. Narayanan (1997–2002)
332 days
Known for the Gujral Doctrine governing foreign policy.[23]
(10) Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Lucknow
73 years, 84 days 		19 March
1998[§] 		22 May
2004 		K. R. Narayanan (1998, 1999) Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II, III 12th, 13th
1998, 1999
6 years, 64 days A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (2002–2007)
First non-Congress PM to complete a full five-year term.[23]
13 Manmohan Singh
Assam (Rajya Sabha)
71 years, 239 days 		22 May
2004 		26 May
2014 		A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (2004)
Pratibha Patil (2009) 		Indian National Congress Manmohan I, II 14th, 15th
2004, 2009 Pratibha Patil (2007–2012)
10 years, 4 days
First Sikh Prime Minister; led the United Progressive Alliance over two full terms.[23] Pranab Mukherjee (2012–2017)
14 Narendra Modi
Varanasi
63 years, 251 days 		26 May
2014 		Incumbent
 Pranab Mukherjee (2014)
Ram Nath Kovind (2019)
Droupadi Murmu (2024) 		Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I, II, III 16th, 17th, 18th
2014, 2019, 2024 Ram Nath Kovind (2017–2022)
12 years, 61 days
First Prime Minister born after India's independence.[24] Droupadi Murmu (2022–present)

List of prime ministers by length of term[edit | edit source]

Name Party Length of term
Longest continuous term Total years of premiership
Jawaharlal Nehru INC 16 years, 286 days[25]
Indira Gandhi INC/INC(I)/INC(R) 11 years, 59 days[26] 15 years, 350 days
Narendra Modi BJP 12 years, 61 days[27]
Manmohan Singh INC 10 years, 4 days[27]
Atal Bihari Vajpayee BJP 6 years, 64 days[26] 6 years, 80 days
Rajiv Gandhi INC(I) 5 years, 32 days[25]
P. V. Narasimha Rao INC 4 years, 330 days[26]
Morarji Desai JP 2 years, 126 days[25]
Lal Bahadur Shastri INC 1 year, 216 days[25]
V. P. Singh JD 343 days[26]
Inder Kumar Gujral 332 days[27]
H. D. Deve Gowda 324 days[27]
Chandra Shekhar SJP(R) 223 days[26]
Charan Singh JP(S) 170 days[26]
Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) INC 13 days 26 days[25]

Lifespan of prime ministers[edit | edit source]

Narendra ModiManmohan SinghInder Kumar GujralH. D. Deve GowdaAtal Bihari VajpayeeP. V. Narasimha RaoChandra ShekharV. P. SinghRajiv GandhiCharan SinghMorarji DesaiIndira GandhiLal Bahadur ShastriJawaharlal Nehru

Statistics by party[edit | edit source]

Fraction of time holding the PMO by party (as of June 2026)

  Indian National Congress (69.02%)
  Bharatiya Janata Party (23.17%)
  Janata Dal (3.47%)
  Janata Party (2.97%)
  Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) (0.77%)
  Janata Party (Secular) (0.59%)
Political parties by total timespan of their members holding the PMO (as of 26 July 2026)
No. Political party Number of prime ministers Total years of holding the PMO
1 INC/INC(I)/INC(R) 7[lower-alpha 2] 54 years, 123 days
2 BJP 2 18 years, 141 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[edit | edit source]

10
20
30
40
50
60
INC
BJP
JD
JP
SJP(R)
JP(S)

See also[edit | edit source]

Footnotes[edit | edit source]

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

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 15 including Gulzarilal Nanda who twice acted in the role, of which 7 having at least one full term, ruling the country for about 70 years.
  2. ↑ Including Gulzarilal Nanda, who acted as prime minister twice.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Pillay, Anashri (2019), "The Constitution of the Republic of India", in Masterman, Roger; Schütze, Robert (eds.), Cambridge Companion to Comparative Constitutional Law, Cambridge University Press, pp. 146–147, doi:10.1017/9781316716731, ISBN 978-1-107-16781-0, LCCN 2019019723, S2CID 219881288
  2. ↑ Dam, Shubhankar (2016), "Executive", in Choudhry, Sujit; Khosla, Madhav; Mehta, Pratap Bhanu (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 307, ISBN 978-0-19-870489-8, The Prime Minister is the head of government.
  3. ↑ Majeed, Akhtar (2005), "Republic of India", in Kincaid, John; Tarr, G. Alan (eds.), Constitutional Origins, Structure, and Change in Federal Countries, A Global Dialogue on Federalism, Volume I, Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press for Forum of Federation and International Association of Centers for Federal Studies, pp. 180–207, 185, ISBN 0-7735-2849-0, ...The president is the constitutional head. (p. 185)
  4. ↑ Dam, Shubhankar (2016), "Executive", in Choudhry, Sujit; Khosla, Madhav; Mehta, Pratap Bhanu (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 307, ISBN 978-0-19-870489-8, The President is the head of the Union of India
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Singh, Nirvikar (2018), "Holding India Together: The Role of Institutions of Federalism", in Mishra, Ajit; Ray, Tridip (eds.), Markets, Governance, and Institutions: In the Process of Economic Development, Oxford University Press, pp. 300–323, 306, ISBN 978-0-19-881255-5
  6. ↑ Majeed, Akhtar (2005), "Republic of India", in Kincaid, John; Tarr, G. Alan (eds.), Constitutional Origins, Structure, and Change in Federal Countries, A Global Dialogue on Federalism, Volume I, Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press for Forum of Federation and International Association of Centers for Federal Studies, pp. 180–207, 185, ISBN 0-7735-2849-0, ...the executive authority is vested in the prime minister and in their Council of Ministers. (p. 185)
  7. ↑ Dam, Shubhankar (2016), "Executive", in Choudhry, Sujit; Khosla, Madhav; Mehta, Pratap Bhanu (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 307, ISBN 978-0-19-870489-8, Executive power, ordinarily, is exercised by Prime Minister.
  8. ↑ Dam, Shubhankar (2016), "Executive", in Choudhry, Sujit; Khosla, Madhav; Mehta, Pratap Bhanu (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 307, ISBN 978-0-19-870489-8, Along with his or her cabinet, the Prime Minister is responsible to the Lower House of Parliament.
  9. ↑ Majeed, Akhtar (2005), "Republic of India", in Kincaid, John; Tarr, G. Alan (eds.), Constitutional Origins, Structure, and Change in Federal Countries, A Global Dialogue on Federalism, Volume I, Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press for Forum of Federation and International Association of Centers for Federal Studies, pp. 180–207, 185, ISBN 0-7735-2849-0, ...Both for the Union and the states, a "cabinet-type" system of parliamentary government has been instituted in which the executive is continuously responsible to the legislature. (p. 185)
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 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.
  12. ↑ "Before Modi, there was Morarjibhai". Rediff.com. 7 April 2014. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  13. ↑ "JD-U demands Bharat Ratna to former PM Charan Singh". The Economic Times. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 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.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ "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.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ "Election Results: Total BJP Sweep, India Chooses Modi 2.0, Show Leads - 10 Points". NDTV. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  20. ↑ "PM Set For Historic 3rd Term, Calls It "Victory Of Biggest Democracy"". NDTV. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  21. ↑ "Decoding India's Elections: How Modi's Grip Loosened". The Diplomat. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  22. ↑ "Modi surpasses Nehru as longest-serving elected PM: Tracing the road to 4,399 days". The Times of India. 10 June 2026. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
  23. ↑ 23.00 23.01 23.02 23.03 23.04 23.05 23.06 23.07 23.08 23.09 23.10 23.11 23.12 23.13 23.14 23.15 23.16 "Former Prime Ministers". Prime Minister's Office, Government of India. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
  24. ↑ "Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi". Prime Minister's Office, Government of India. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 "Former Prime Ministers of India Portfolio". Archive PMO India. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 26.5 "Prime Ministers of India Profiles". Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 "Former Prime Ministers Chronology". Prime Minister's Office (PM India). Retrieved 10 June 2026.

External links[edit | edit source]

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