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 to which it was formerly subject. 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 ('47-'52, '52-'57, '57-'62 and '62-'64). Indira Gandhi served three terms ('66-'71, '71-'77, '80-'83) and Atal Behari Vajpayee) served on two separate occasions. 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 thirty years after Indian independence. Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress Prime Minister in 1977. The present Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, is from the Bharatiya Janata Party. He became that party's first Prime Minister in 1996, and was later returned to power in 1998.
| 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 | (present) | Bharatiya Janata Party
|
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