Prime Minister of India

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. 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 (1947-1952, 1952-1957, 1957-1962 and 1962-1964). Indira Gandhi served three terms (1966-1971, 1971-1977, and 1980-1983) and Atal Behari Vajpayee served on two separate occasions (1996, 1998-2004). 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 the first thirty years of India's independence. Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress Prime Minister in 1977. Atal Behari Vajpayee of the Bharatiya Janata Party became that party's first Prime Minister in 1996, and was later returned to power in 1998. The 2004 elections to the Lok Sabha returned the Congress back to power, and Dr. Manmohan Singh was named the Prime Minister-designate on 19 May 2004 after party president Sonia Gandhi declined the post. He was sworn in on May 22,2004. Singh, a member of the Sikh faith, is the first non-Hindu Prime Minister of India. The official residence of the Prime Minister of India is 7 Race Course Road.

List of Prime Ministers of India

{| border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"\n|- align="center"\n! bgcolor="#d3d3d3" | Key:\n| bgcolor="#e4e8ff" | INC
Indian National Congress\n| bgcolor="#ddffdd" | JP
Janata Party\n| bgcolor="#ffcccc" | JD
Janata Dal\n| bgcolor="#ffeecc" | BJP
Bharatiya Janata Party\n|} {| border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="2"\n|- bgcolor="#d3d3d3"\n! No.\n! Name \n! Took Office\n! Left Office\n! Party |- bgcolor="#e4e8ff"\n| 01\n| Jawaharlal Nehru\n| Aug 15, 1947\n| May 27, 1964\n| Indian National Congress |- bgcolor="#e4e8ff"\n| *\n| Gulzari Lal Nanda\n| May 27, 1964\n| Jun 09, 1964\n| Indian National Congress |- bgcolor="#e4e8ff"\n| 02\n| Lal Bahadur Shastri\n| Jun 09, 1964\n| Jan 11, 1966\n| Indian National Congress |- bgcolor="#e4e8ff"\n| *\n| Gulzari Lal Nanda\n| Jan 11, 1966\n| Jan 24, 1966\n| Indian National Congress |- bgcolor="#e4e8ff"\n| 03\n| Indira Gandhi\n| Jan 24, 1966\n| Mar 24, 1977\n| Indian National Congress |- bgcolor="#ddffdd"\n| 04\n| Morarji Desai\n| Mar 24, 1977\n| Jul 28, 1979\n| Janata Party |- bgcolor="#ddffdd"\n| 05\n| Choudhary Charan Singh\n| Jul 28, 1979\n| Jan 14, 1980\n| Janata Party |- bgcolor="#e4e8ff"\n| **\n| Indira Gandhi\n| Jan 14, 1980\n| Oct 31, 1984\n| Indian National Congress |- bgcolor="#e4e8ff"\n| 06\n| Rajiv Gandhi\n| Oct 31, 1984\n| Dec 02, 1989\n| Indian National Congress |- bgcolor="#ffcccc"\n| 07\n| Vishwanath Pratap Singh\n| Dec 02, 1989\n| Nov 10, 1990\n| Janata Dal |- bgcolor="#ffcccc"\n| 08\n| Chandra Shekhar\n| Nov 10, 1990\n| Jun 21, 1991\n| Janata Dal |- bgcolor="#e4e8ff"\n| 09\n| P. V. Narasimha Rao\n| Jun 21, 1991\n| May 16, 1996\n| Indian National Congress |- bgcolor="#ffeecc"\n| 10\n| Atal Behari Vajpayee\n| May 16, 1996\n| Jun 01, 1996\n| Bharatiya Janata Party |- bgcolor="#ffcccc"\n| 11\n| H. D. Deve Gowda\n| Jun 01, 1996\n| Apr 21, 1997\n| Janata Dal |- bgcolor="#ffcccc"\n| 12\n| Inder Kumar Gujral\n| Apr 21, 1997\n| Mar 19, 1998\n| Janata Dal |- bgcolor="#ffeecc"\n| **\n| Atal Behari Vajpayee\n| Mar 19, 1998\n| May 22, 2004\n| Bharatiya Janata Party |- bgcolor="#e4e8ff"\n| 13\n| Dr. Manmohan Singh\n| May 22, 2004\n| In Office\n| Indian National Congress\n|} {| border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"\n|- align="center"\n! bgcolor="#d3d3d3" | Key:\n| bgcolor="#e4e8ff" | INC
Indian National Congress\n| bgcolor="#ddffdd" | JP
Janata Party\n| bgcolor="#ffcccc" | JD
Janata Dal\n| bgcolor="#ffeecc" | BJP
Bharatiya Janata Party\n|}\n* acting
\n** resumed office

External link

• Office of the Prime Minister

India, Prime Minister of\n\n\n\nzh-cn:印度总理