PRIME MINISTERS
OF INDIA
Dr. Basil Bemgba Achie MBBS Ibadan

• The Republic of India is a parliamentary democracy with two houses of parliament – The Lok
Sabha (House of the People) and The Rajiya Sabha (Council of States).
• As in most parliamentary democracies, India has a President who is the head of state de jure and
whose duties are mostly ceremonial, and a Prime Minister who is the head of government and
exercises the de facto executive powers of the president.
• The President of India invites the person commanding the greatest support of the majority of
the members of the Lok Sabha to form the government of India as Prime Minister.
• The Prime Minister has to enjoy the confidence of a majority of the members of the Lok Sabha
to remain in office.
• Since 1947 India has had 14 different Prime Ministers and one acting Prime Minister, Gulzarilal
Nanda, who twice acted the role. The inaugural Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was sworn in
on 15 August 1947, the date India gained independence from British rule.
• The following slides outline Prime Ministers of India, chronologically, from 1947 to 2018.

OUTLINE
Jawaharlal Nehru Vishwanath Pratap Singh
Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) Chandra shelkhar
Lal Bahadur Shastri Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao
Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Indira Ghandi Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda
Morarji Desai Inder Kumar Gujral
Charan Singh Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Morarji Desai Manmuhan Singh
Indira Ghandi Narendra Modi
Rajiv Ghandi

Jawaharlal Nehru
Lifetime: 1889-1964 Party: Indian National Congress
• Terms: 15 August 1947 – 27 May
1964.
• First Prime Minister of India.

Gulzarilal Nanda (acting)
Lifetime: 1898-1998 Party: Indian National Congress
• Term: 27 May 1964-9 June 1964.

Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lifetime: 1904-1966 Party: Indian National Congress
• Term: 9 June 1964 – 11 January
1966.
• Second Prime Minister of India.

Gulzarilal Nanda (acting)
Lifetime: 1898-1998 Party: Indian National Congress
• Term: 11 January 1966 – 24 January
1966.
• Second time as acting Prime
Minister.

Indira Gandhi
Lifetime: 1917-1984 Party: Indian National Congress
• Term: 24 January 1966 – 24 March
1977.
• Third Prime Minister of India.

Morarji Desai
Lifetime: 1896-1995 Party: Janata Party
• Term: 24 March 1977 – 28 July
1979.
• Fourth Prime Minister of India.

Indira Gandhi
Lifetime: 1917-1984 Party: Indian National Congress
• Term: 14 January 1980 – 31
October 1984.
• This was her second time as Prime
Minister of India.

Rajiv Gandhi
Lifetime: 1944-1991 Party: Indian National Congress
• Term: 31 October 1984 – 2
December 1989.
• Sixth Prime Minister of India.

Vishwanath Pratap Singh
Lifetime: 1931-2008 Party: Janata Dal (National Front)
• Term: 2 December 1989 – 10
November 1990.
• Seventh Prime Minister of India.

Chandra Shekhar
Lifetime: 1927-2007 Party: Samajwadi Party
• Term: 10 November 1990 – 21
June 1991.
• Eighth Prime Minister of India.

Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao
Lifetime: 1921-2004 Party: Indian National Congress
• Term: 21 June 1991 – 16 May 1996.
• Ninth Prime Minister of India.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Lifetime: 1924-2018 Party: Bharatiya Janata Party
• Term: 16 May 1996 – 1 June 1996.
• Tenth Prime Minister of India.

Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda
Born 1933 Party: Janata Dal (National Front)
• Term: I June 1996 – 21 April 1997.
• Eleventh Prime Minister of India.

Inder Kumar Gujral
Lifetime: 1919-2012 Party: Janata Dal (United Front)
• Term: 21 April 1997 – 19 March
1998.
• Twelfth Prime Minister of India.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Lifetime: 1924-2018 Party: Bharatiya Janata Party
• Term: 19 March 1998 – 22 May
2004.
• This was his second time as Prime
Minister of India.

Manmohan Singh
Born 1932 Party: Indian National Congress
• Term: 22 May 2004 – 26 May 2014.
• Thirteenth Prime Minister of India.

Narendra Modi
Born 1950 Party: Bharatiya Janata Party
• Term: 26 May 2014 – Incumbent.
• Fourteenth and current Prime
Minister of India.