The Prime Minister of India is the real executive authority. He is the head of the government and appointed by the president (Article 75) after a political party wins a general election and nominates a candidate for the post. The power of the government is vested in the PM while the president is the nominal head of the state. Article 78 of the Indian constitution describes the duties of the Prime minister of India.
The PM of India determines the dates of its meetings and programmes for the parliament session. The prime minister of India also decides when the house has to be prorogued or dissolved. Look at the list of prime ministers of India from 1947 to 2022 in the below table.
List of Prime Ministers of India
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who was the first Prime minister of India after independence and Narendra Damodardas Modi is the current Prime Minister of India. Check the list of PM of India from 1947 to 2022 in the table below.
| PM Name | Tenure | Time in Office | Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jawahar Lal Nehru | 15-Aug-1947 to 27-May-1964 | 16 Years, 286 Days | Indian National Congress |
| Gulzarilal Nanda | 27-May-1964 to 9 June 1964 | 13 Days | INC |
| Lal Bahadur Shastri | 09-Jun-1964 to 11-Jan-1966 | 1 Years, 216 Days | INC |
| Gulzarilal Nanda | 11-Jan-1966 to 24 January 1966 | 13 days | INC |
| Indira Gandhi | 24-Jan-1966 to 24-Mar-1977 | 11 Years, 59 Days | INC |
| Morarji Desai | 24-Mar-1977 to 28-Jul-1979 | 2 Years, 126 days | Janata Party |
| Charan Singh | 28-Jul-1979 to 14-Jan-1980 | 170 Days | Janata Party (Secular) |
| Indira Gandhi | 14-Jan-1980 to 31-Oct-1984 | 4 Years, 291 days | INC |
| Rajiv Gandhi | 31-Oct-1984 to 02-Dec-1989 | 5 Years, 32 Days | INC |
| Vishwanath PratapSingh | 02-Dec-1989 to 10-Nov-1990 | 343 days | Janata Dal |
| Chandra Shekhar | 10-Nov-1990 to 21-Jun-1991 | 223 days | Damajwadi Janta party |
| P. V. Narasimha Rao | 21-Jun-1991 to 16-May-1996 | 4 Years, 330 days | INC |
| Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 16-May-1996 to 01-Jun-1996 | 16 days | BJP |
| H. D. Deve Gowda | 01-Jun-1996 to 21-Apr-1997 | 324 days | Janata Dal |
| Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 19-Mar-1998 to 22-May-2004 | 6 Years, 64 days | BJP |
| Dr. Manmohan Singh | 22-May-2004 to 26-May-2014 | 10 Years, 4 days | INC |
| Narendra Damodardas Modi | 26-May-2014 to Incumbent | 8 Years | BJP |
Important Facts related to Prime Minister
- Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who was the first Prime minister of India after independence has the longest tenure (17 years).
- Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal bahadur shastri and Indira Gandhi had died during office.
- VP singh (1990), HD deve gowda (1997) and Atal Bihari vajpayee (1999) had to step-down after a vote of no-confidence from the post of prime minister.
- Indira Gandhi was the first woman prime minister of India.
- Dr. Manmohan Singh is the first Sikh Prime minister of India.