Prime Ministers of India
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru : 1947 – 1964 (17 years)
First Prime Minister of Independent India,
who held the PM office for longest period i.e. 17 yrs.
One of the leading figures in Indian Independence
Movement.
Creating Planning Commission of India he drew up first
Five Year Plan (We call it as budget ) which highlighted
areas like agriculture, increasing business & economic
taxes.
His Govt. paid attention to the institutions for higher education like, IIMS, IIT and IIM.
He died of a heart attack on 26th May 1964.
Gulzarilal Nanda : May 1964 – June 1964, January 1966 (28 days)
He was interim Prime minister on India, first time after
death of Jawaharlal Nehru and second time after death of
Lal Bahadur Shastri.
During British Govt. he was the member of Bombay
Legislative assembly.
Later elected to the Loksabha as a Union Minister for Labor
Employment and Planning in 1957.
He died on 15th January 1998
Lal Bahadur Shastri : June 1964 – Jan 1966 (582 days)
Lal Bahadur Shastri was very popular amongst Indian populace
Pushed the Green revolution in India, which directly lead India
becoming a Food – Surplus Nation.
Shastri witnessed Indo – Pak War of 1965.
Died os heart attack on 11th jan 1966 just after the day of
declaration of ceasefire of the war.
Although it was officially maintained that he was dies of heart
attack his family kept alleging that he was poisoned.
Indira Gandhi : Jan 1966 – March 1977, Jan 1984 – Oct 1984 (5,831 days)
First and only lady Prime Minister of India.
Very successful during her period
Witnessed Indo – Pak war of 1971
India was victorious in the 1971 war, and Bangladesh was born.
Indira Gandhi Govt. decreed a 40% devaluation in the value of
the Indian rupee from 4 to 7 to the United States.
Indira Gandhi successfully conducted an underground nuclear test, unofficially code named as
"Smiling Buddha",
She applied special agricultural innovation programs, which transformed India's chronic food
shortages into surplus production of wheat, rice, cotton and milk.
On 31 October 1984, two of Gandhi's bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, assassinated
her with their service weapons
Morarji Desai : March 1977 – July 1979 (857 days)
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai , was an Indian independence activist.
first Indian Prime Minister who did not belong to the Indian National
Congress.
Desai worked to improve relations with neighbor and arch-rival
Pakistan and restored normal relations with China, for the first
time since the 1962 war.
In 1979 Desai resigned from office and retire from politics at the
age of 83.
He died at the age of 99 in Mumbai.
Chaudhary Charan Singh : July 1979 – Jan 1980 (171 days)
Chaudhary Charan Singh was the sixth Prime Minister of the
Republic of India.
He opened high level diplomatic relations with Israel.
Charan Singh died on 29 May 1987.
Rajiv Gandhi : Oct 1984 – Dec 1989
The youngest Prime Minister of India when he took
office at the age of 40, after his mother Indira Gandhi was
assassinated in Oct 1984.
Earlier he worked as a Professional Pilot with Indian Airlines.
He increased government support for science and technology
and associated industries
reduced import quotas, taxes and tariffs on technology-based
industries, especially computers, airlines, defence and
Telecommunications.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated while campaigning for the
Sriperumbudur Lok Sabha Congress candidate on 21 May 1991.
V. P. Singh : Dec 1989 – Nov 1990 (344 days)
He was born in the Rajput Gaharwal Royal Family
He was firstly appointed aas Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
decided to implement the recommendations of the Mandal
Commission which suggested that a fixed quota of all jobs in
the public sector be reserved for Other Backward Classes.
The Babri Masjid was destroyed during the Singh’s Govt.
V. P. Singh died after a long struggle with multiple myeloma
(bone marrow cancer) on 27 November 2008.
Chandra Shekhar : Nov 1990 – June 1991 (224 days)
9th Prime Minister of the Republic of India.
Shekhar was known for abiding by the parliamentary
conventions and was honoured with the inaugural Outstanding
Parliamentarian Award in 1995.
He won elections to the Lok Sabha eight times from Ballia
constituency in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Chandra Shekhar died at the age of 80 in New Delhi on 8 July 2007.
P. V Narsimha Rao : June 1991 – May 1996 (1,785 days)
10th Prime Minister of the Republic of India.
He led one of the most important administrations in
India's modern history, overseeing a major economic
transformation and several incidents affecting national
security.
Started National Stock Exchange as a computer-based
trading system in 1994.
Rao energized the national nuclear security and ballistic
missiles program, which ultimately resulted in the 1998
Pokhran nuclear tests
He died of a heart attack on 23 December 2004
Atal Bihari Vajpayee : May 1996 – June 1996, Oct 1999 – May 2004
11th Prime Minister of the Republic of India.
In May 1998, India conducted five underground nuclear tests in
Pokhran, Rajasthan.
The Lahore summit between India and Pakistan held between
The period of Vajpayee Govt.
Kargil War held during period of Vajpayee Govt.
On 13 October 1999, Atal Bihari Vajpayee took oath as Prime Minister of India for the third
time. The BJP-led NDA had won 303 seats in the 543 seat Lok Sabha in the aftermath of
Kargil operation.
Vajpayee oversaw his National Highway Development Project and Pradhan Mantri Gram
Sadak Yojana begin construction
H. D. Deve Gowda : June 1996 – April 1997
12th Prime Minister of the Republic of India
His leadership of the Third Front (a group of regional parties
and Non-Congress and Non-BJP combine) led to his Prime
Minister's job.
Inder Kumar Gujral : April 1997 – Nov 1997
13th Prime Minister of the Republic of India.
Prime Minister Gujral continued in the office for over 11
months, including 3 months as caretaker Prime Minister.
During this time, he attempted to improve relations with
Pakistan.
Dr. Manmohan Singh : May 2004 – till date
14th and current Prime Minister of the Republic of India.
He is the first Indian Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to
return to power after completing a full five-year term.
Singh previously carried out economic reforms in India during
his tenure as the Finance Minister from 1991 to 1996.
Minister has continued the peace process with Pakistan initiated
by his predecessor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
He improved relations between India and Afghanistan.
Singh's government has worked towards stronger ties with
the United States.
He started the National Rural Health Mission, which has mobilised half a million community
health workers.
