In India, the head of state is the President. The President’s powers are largely nominal and ceremonial. The Prime Minister of India is the head of the government. The President appoints him after a political party wins a general election. The party nominates a candidate for the post. The leader of that political party is then appointed as the Prime Minister of India.
Effective executive power rests with the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister heads the Council. The Prime Minister is chosen by the majority party or coalition in the Lok Sabha, which is the Lower House of Parliament. The President of India appoints the Prime Minister.
In this article, we will look at the list of the Prime Ministers of India. The Prime Ministers of India list is chronologically ordered from 1947 to 2025.
Exam Relevance
The list of Indian Prime Ministers is crucial for government exams like SSC, UPSC, Railways (RRB), and Banking. It falls under the General Knowledge/Static GK and Indian Polity sections. Questions often cover the chronological order of Prime Ministers and their tenures. They also focus on key constitutional provisions, such as Article 75.
Notable achievements or ‘firsts’ are also included, such as the first female Prime Minister and the longest and shortest tenures. This knowledge test a candidate’s grasp of India’s post-independence political history and executive structure.
Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 2024
Jawahar Lal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India. He was appointed on 15th August 1947. Narendra Damodardas Modi is the current Prime Minister of India. He took the Prime Minister’s Oath for the third time continuously on 9th June 2024. You can check the List of Prime Ministers of India from 1947 to 2024 in the table below.
| Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 2025 | |
| Prime Minister Name | Period |
| Jawahar Lal Nehru | 15 August 1947 to 27 May 1964 |
| Gulzarilal Nanda | 27 May 1964 to 9 June 1964 |
| Lal Bahadur Shastri | 09 June 1964 to 11 January 1966 |
| Gulzarilal Nanda | 11 January 1966 to 24 January 1966 |
| Indira Gandhi | 24 January 1966 to 24 March 1977 |
| Morarji Desai | 24 March 1977 to 28 July 1979 |
| Charan Singh | 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980 |
| Indira Gandhi | 14 January 1980 to 31 October 1984 |
| Rajiv Gandhi | 31 October 1984 to 02 December 1989 |
| Vishwanath Pratap Singh | 02 December 1989 to 10 November 1990 |
| Chandra Shekhar | 10 November 1990 to 21 June 1991 |
| P. V. Narasimha Rao | 21 June 1991 to 16 May 1996 |
| Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 16 May 1996 to 01 June 1996 |
| H. D. Deve Gowda | 01 June 1996 to 21 April 1997 |
| Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 19 March 1998 to 22 May 2004 |
| Dr. Manmohan Singh | 22 May 2004 to 26 May 2014 |
| Narendra Damodardas Modi | 26 May 2014 to Incumbent |
Indian Prime Ministers: Important Points
The Prime Minister of India is the chief executive of the Government of India. There are some important points about the Indian Prime Ministers. These points are often asked in various exams.
- Jawaharlal Nehru is recognised as the architect of modern India. He was the first Prime Minister of India and holds the record for the longest tenure, with 16 years and 286 days in office.
- Indira Gandhi was the first and only woman to hold the position, serving for a total of 15 years and 350 days across two terms.
- Rajiv Gandhi became the youngest Prime Minister at age 40, taking office on October 31, 1984.
- Morarji Desai was the first Prime Minister not from the Indian National Congress, serving from March 24, 1977, to July 28, 1979.
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee had the shortest tenure of any Prime Minister, with just 16 days in office during his first term in 1996.
- Manmohan Singh served as India’s first Sikh Prime Minister from May 22, 2004, to May 26, 2014.
- P. V. Narasimha Rao was the first Prime Minister from South India, serving from June 21, 1991, to May 16, 1996.
- Gulzarilal Nanda served as acting Prime Minister twice, each time for just 13 days.
- Narendra Modi has been in office since May 26, 2014, and is currently serving his third term after being re-elected in June 2024.
List of the Prime Ministers of India
1. Narendra Damodardas Modi (2014-Incumbent)
Narendra Modi is the prime minister of the Republic of India. He was elected as the head of the government. Modi is the leader of the Lower House, known as the Lok Sabha. He also serves as the head of the Council of Ministers. Currently, he is the 14th Prime Minister of India. Prime Minister Modi is serving his third tenure. He was first elected in 2014 to the 16th Lok Sabha. You can check the list of prime ministers who preceded him below.
2. Manmohan Singh (2004-2014)
Dr Manmohan Singh was the 13th Prime Minister of India. He served two full terms as Prime Minister and twice headed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. A member of the Rajya Sabha, Manmohan Singh was the leader of the upper house from 1998 to 2004. He is currently serving his sixth term in the Rajya Sabha. He is widely credited with the 1991 LPG (Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation) reforms in India, as he was the finance minister in the PV Narasimha Rao government. Manmohan Singh was also the 15th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He received the Padma Vibhushan in 1987.
3. HD Deve Gowda (1996-1997)
Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda is the 11th Prime Minister of India. He served as the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1994 to 1996. Deve Gowda was chosen as Prime Minister when no party won enough seats to form a government. The United Front formed the government with Congress’s support. He is the national president of the Janata Dal (Secular). After his term as Prime Minister, Deve Gowda became a member of the 14th, 15th, and 16th Lok Sabha.
4. Inder Kumar Gujral (1997-1998)
I.K. Gujral was the 12th Prime Minister of India. He participated in the Quit India Movement under the leadership of Gandhi Ji. As the Minister of External Affairs, he is remembered for the Gujral Doctrine. This doctrine consisted of five principles to guide India’s foreign policy with its immediate neighbors, particularly Pakistan. He served as both a Rajya Sabha member and a Lok Sabha member.
5. Chandra Shekhar (1990-1991)
Chandra Shekhar was the eighth Indian Prime Minister. He led a minority government from a breakaway faction of the Janata Dal. His government relied on the support of Congress to delay the election process. This administration had the fewest number of party MPs and was often seen as the ‘lame duck’. Two significant events during his tenure were the 1991 economic crisis and the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.
6. PV Narasimha Rao (1991-1996)
Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao was the 10th Prime Minister of India. He was the first PM to come from southern India. Narasimha Rao served as the Defence Minister from 1993 to 1996. He was the Minister of External Affairs from 1992 to 1994. Additionally, he was the Home Minister under Rajiv Gandhi in 1986. Narasimha Rao also served as the 4th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The 1991 economic reforms were introduced during his tenure as Prime Minister.
7. Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1996, 1998-99, 1999-2004)
Atal Bihari Vajpayee served three terms as the Prime Minister of India. He was first elected as the 10th Prime Minister and served for a period of only 13 days. Vajpayee was a popular prime minister and was conferred with the highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, in 2014. He coined the slogan “Jai jawaan, Jai Kisaan, Jai Vigyan.”
Vajpayee held the position of External Affairs Minister in Morarji Desai’s government and is remembered for his contributions to improving Indo-Pakistan ties. He was elected 10 times to the Lok Sabha and was a two-time member of the Rajya Sabha from 1962 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1991. Vajpayee was also among the founding members of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which later became the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was the first president of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Pokhran 2 nuclear tests in 1998 were conducted during his tenure. Vajpayee was born on Christmas Day, December 25. His birthday is observed in India as Good Governance Day.
8. VP Singh (1989-1990)
Vishwanath Pratap Singh was the seventh prime minister of India. He was a Congressman and served as the 12th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. From 1984 to 1987, he held the position of Minister of Finance. He was also the minister of defence from 1989 to 1990 under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi when the Bofors scandal surfaced. During his tenure, the Mandal Commission Report for reservations in government posts and educational institutions was implemented.
9. Rajiv Gandhi (1984-89)
Rajiv Gandhi was the sixth prime minister of India. He was the son of the preceding PM Indira Gandhi, and Feroze Gandhi. He served from 1984 to 1989. Rajiv Gandhi took office on the day of Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984. At age 40, he became the youngest PM of India. Prior to his political career, he served as a pilot for Indian Airlines.
From 1985 to 1991, he was the president of the Congress party. His term included significant events such as the Shah Bano case, the Bhopal gas tragedy, and the Bofors scandal. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by an LTTE suicide bomber in 1991 at the age of 46. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna.
10. Chaudhary Charan Singh (1979-80)
C. Charan Singh was the fifth prime minister of India. He was born into a peasant family in Uttar Pradesh. Charan Singh became a champion of peasants’ rights.
11. Morarji Desai (1977-79)
The fourth Prime Minister of India was Morarji Ranchhodji Desai. He served as the Chief Minister of the Bombay state from 1952 to 1956. This state was later partitioned into Maharashtra and Gujarat. Desai led the government formed by the Janata Party.
12. Indira Gandhi (1966-1977, 1980-1984)
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi was the third Prime Minister of India. She was also the first and so far the only woman prime minister of the country. Indira Gandhi served the second-longest term as the Prime Minister of India. She held several important positions, including minister of external affairs in 1984, minister of defence from 1980 to 1982, minister of home affairs from 1970 to 1973, and minister of information and broadcasting from 1964 to 1966.
In 1975, she imposed a state of emergency to suspend elections. During her term, the 1971 war with Pakistan for the liberation of East Pakistan took place. Following Operation Blue Star, she was assassinated in 1986 by her own bodyguard.
13. Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964-1966)
Congressman Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second prime minister of India. He came up with the slogan of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan.’ This slogan became popular during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war. Shastri also served as the Railways minister under Jawaharlal Nehru. He died the day following the Tashkent Agreement, which formally ended the war.
16. Jawaharlal Nehru (1947-1964)
Jawaharlal Nehru was the first and longest-serving prime minister of India. He was a leading figure in the Indian independence movement. Nehru served as the prime minister until his death in 1964. He was popularly known as ‘Chacha Nehru’ due to his love for children. Additionally, he was called ‘Pandit Nehru’ because of his roots in the Kashmiri Pandit community.
Gulzarilal Nanda (1964, 1966)
Gulzarilal Nanda took office in 1966. He served as the acting prime minister of India for 13 days following the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri. Earlier, he had a 13-day stint as the second prime minister of India. This occurred after the death of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964.
Prime Ministers of India: At a Glance
Conclusion
In conclusion, the role of the Prime Minister of India is crucial in shaping the nation’s policies and development. Each leader, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi, has left a unique mark on the country’s progress. Understanding the history of Indian Prime Ministers offers valuable insights into the evolving political landscape. Their legacies reflect the resilience and dynamism of Indian democracy. These legacies continue to influence the nation’s future direction.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who is the current Prime Minister of India?
Mr Narendra Damodardas Modi is the current Prime Minister of India.
2. Who is the longest-serving PM of India?
Jawaharlal Nehru is the longest-serving PM of India.
3. Who was the first Prime Minister of India?
Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India.
4. Who was the first woman Prime Minister of India?
Indira Gandhi is the first and only woman Prime Minister of India.
5. Who is the youngest Prime Minister of India?
Rajiv Gandhi was the youngest Prime Minister of India.
6. Who appoints the Prime Minister of India?
The President of India appoints the Prime Minister of India.
7. Who served for the shortest tenure as the Prime Minister of India?
Atal Bihari Vajpayee served for the shortest tenure as the Prime Minister of India.
8. Who is the 8th PM of India?
The 8th Prime Minister of India was Chandra Shekhar, who served from November 10, 1990, to June 21, 1991.
9. Who is the 12th Prime Minister of India?
Shri Inder Kumar Gujral was sworn in as the 12th Prime Minister of India on 21st April, 1997.
10. Who is called the Iron Lady of India?
The “Iron Lady of India” is Indira Gandhi, the first and only female Prime Minister of India.
