Prime Ministers Of India Image Gallery

Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, The first Prime Minister of Independent India, also holds the record for continuously being in the office for the longest period (Aug. 15, 1947 to May 27, 1964) about 17 years.

Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda, Gandhian to the core, was interim Prime Minister on two occasions - after the sudden demise of Pt. Nehru (from may 27, 1964 to June 9, 1964), for 14 days, and again after the sudden demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri (from January 11 to 24, 1966), again for a period of 14 days.

Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, Though he came to power under the shadow cast of the ever-famous Pt. Nehru, he quickly won the hearts of all Indians, especially after routing Pakistan in the 1965 war.

Smt. Indira Gandhi, Proved her mettle as the chip of the old block; held office from Jan. 24, 1966 to March 24, 1977 and again |from Jan. 14 to Oct. 31,1984, for a total of 5,831 days, just 300 days short of her father, Pt. Nehru.

Shri Morarji Desai, The first non-congress Prime Minister since Independence, Morarji Desai headed the Janata Party Government for 857 days, from March 24, 1977 to July 28, 1979.

Shri Charan Singh, A "kisan" Prime Minister from Uttar Pradesh, he never faced Parliament, even though he was in office for 171 days, from July 28, 1979 to Jan. 14, 1980.

Shri Rajiv Gandhi, The youngest Prime Minister so far, this grand son of Pt. Nehru assumed office at the age of 41, the day his mother was assassinated (Oct. 31,1984). In the 1985 elections, he led his party to a big win and continued as P. M. till Dec. 1,1989, when his party lost the hustings.

Shri Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Riding the wave of the Janata Dal, V. P. Singh became Prime Minister on Dec. 2,1989 and continued till Nov. 10, 1990 (344 days).

Shri Chandra Shekhar, The " Young Turk" became Prime Minister on Nov. 10,1990 and continued till June 21, 1991 (224 days).

Shri P. V. Narasimha Rao, The first ever from South to hold this office, he ruled for full five years, from June 21, 1991 to May 10, 1996 (1, 785 days).

Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, A man of the masses, firm in his political convictions. On October 13, 1999, he took charge as Prime Minister of India for the second consecutive term at the head of a new coalition government, the National Democratic Alliance.

Shri H. D. Deve Gowda, The second Government of the 11th Lok Sabha was headed by Haradanahalli Dodde Deve Gowda, who was in office from June 1, 1996 to April 21, 1997 (for roughly 11 months).