List of Prime Ministers of India - Wikipedia List of Prime Ministers of India Narendra Modi is the current ( 14th ) Prime Minister of India, since 26 May 2014. The Prime Minister of India is the chief executive of the Government of India. In India 's parliamentary system, the Constitution names the President as head of state de jure, but his or her de facto executive powers are vested in the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers. Appointed and sworn - in by the President, the Prime Minister is usually the leader of the party or alliance that has a majority in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India 's Parliament. Since 1947, India has had fourteen Prime Ministers, fifteen including Gulzarilal Nanda who twice acted in the role. The first was Jawaharlal Nehru of the Indian National Congress party, who was sworn - in on 15 August 1947, when India gained independence from the British. Serving until his death in May 1964, Nehru remains India 's longest - serving prime minister. He was succeeded by fellow Congressman Lal Bahadur Shastri, whose 19 - month term also ended in death. Indira Gandhi, Nehru 's daughter, succeeded Shastri in 1966 to become the country 's first woman premier. Eleven years later, she was voted out of power in favour of the Janata Party, whose leader Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress prime minister. After he resigned in 1979, his former deputy Charan Singh briefly held office until Indira Gandhi was voted back six months later. Indira Gandhi 's second stint as Prime Minister ended five years later on the morning of 31 October 1984, when she was gunned down by her own bodyguards. That evening, her son Rajiv Gandhi was sworn - in as India 's youngest premier, and the third from his family. Thus far, members of Nehru -- Gandhi dynasty have been Prime Minister for a total of 37 years and 303 days. Rajiv 's five - year term ended with his former cabinet colleague, V.P. Singh of the Janata Dal, forming the year - long National Front coalition government in 1989. A six - month interlude under Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar followed, after which the Congress party returned to power, forming the government under P.V. Narasimha Rao in June 1991. Rao 's five - year term was succeeded by four short - lived governments -- the Bharatiya Janata Party 's Atal Bihari Vajpayee for 13 days in 1996, a year each under United Front prime ministers H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral, and Vajpayee again for 19 months in 1998 -- 99. After Vajpayee was sworn - in for the third time, in 1999, he managed to lead his National Democratic Alliance ( NDA ) government to a full five - year term, the first non-Congressman to do so. Vajpayee was succeeded by Congressman Manmohan Singh, the first Sikh premier, whose United Progressive Alliance government was in office for 10 years between 2004 and 2014. The incumbent Prime Minister of India is Narendra Modi who has headed the BJP - led NDA government since 26 May 2014 which is India 's first non-Congress single party majority government. Prime Ministers of India ( by state of birth ) Contents 1 Key 2 Prime Ministers of India 3 See also 4 References Key Colour key for party of the prime ministers Bharatiya Janata Party Indian National Congress designated Indian National Congress ( I ) 1977 -- 1996 Janata Dal Janata Party Janata Party ( Secular ) Samajwadi Janata Party Other key No : Incumbent number Assassinated or died in office Returned to office after a previous term Resigned Resigned following a no - confidence motion Prime Ministers of India No Name ( birth -- death ) ; constituency Portrait Prior Office Party ( Alliance ) Elected constituency Term of office Elections ( Lok Sabha ) Ministry Appointed by Jawaharlal Nehru ( 1889 -- 1964 ) Indian freedom fighter Indian National Congress Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh 15 August 1947 27 May 1964 7003613000000000000 ♠ 16 years, 286 days -- Nehru I Lord Mountbatten 1952 ( 1st ) Nehru II Rajendra Prasad 1957 ( 2nd ) Nehru III 1962 ( 3rd ) Nehru IV -- Gulzarilal Nanda ( acting ) ( 1898 -- 1998 ) Union Minister of Labour and Employment Indian National Congress Sabarkantha, Gujarat 27 May 1964 9 June 1964 13 days ( 3rd ) ( acting ) Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Lal Bahadur Shastri ( 1904 -- 1966 ) Minister of Home Affairs Indian National Congress Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh 9 June 1964 11 January 1966 7002581000000000000 ♠ 1 year, 216 days ( 3rd ) Shastri -- Gulzarilal Nanda ( acting ) ( 1898 -- 1998 ) Minister of Home Affairs Indian National Congress Sabarkantha, Gujarat 11 January 1966 24 January 1966 13 days ( 3rd ) ( acting ) Indira Gandhi ( 1917 -- 1984 ) Minister of Information and Broadcasting Indian National Congress Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh 24 January 1966 24 March 1977 7003407700000000000 ♠ 11 years, 59 days ( 3rd ) I. Gandhi I Prime Minister ( Re-elected ) Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh 1967 ( 4th ) Prime Minister ( Re-elected ) 1971 ( 5th ) I. Gandhi II V.V. Giri Morarji Desai ( 1896 -- 1995 ) Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of India before he resigned in 1969 Janata Party Surat, Gujarat 24 March 1977 28 July 1979 7002856000000000000 ♠ 2 years, 126 days 1977 ( 6th ) Desai B.D. Jatti ( acting President ) Charan Singh ( 1902 -- 1987 ) Minister of Finance Janata Party ( Secular ) with INC Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh 28 July 1979 14 January 1980 170 days -- ( 6th ) C. Singh Neelam Sanjiva Reddy ( 3 ) Indira Gandhi ( 1917 -- 1984 ) Former Prime Minister Indian National Congress ( I ) Medak, Andhra Pradesh 14 January 1980 31 October 1984 7003175200000000000 ♠ 4 years, 291 days 1980 ( 7th ) I. Gandhi III 6 Rajiv Gandhi ( 1944 -- 1991 ) MP for Amethi Indian National Congress ( I ) Amethi, Uttar Pradesh 31 October 1984 2 December 1989 7003185800000000000 ♠ 5 years, 32 days ( 7th ) R. Gandhi Zail Singh Former Prime Minister ( Re-elected ) 1984 ( 8th ) 7 V.P. Singh ( 1931 -- 2008 ) Minister of Defence Janata Dal ( National Front ) Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh 2 December 1989 10 November 1990 343 days 1989 ( 9th ) V.P. Singh R. Venkataraman 8 Chandra Shekhar ( 1927 -- 2007 ) MP for Ballia Samajwadi Janata Party with INC Ballia, Uttar Pradesh 10 November 1990 21 June 1991 223 days ( 9th ) Chandra Shekhar 9 P.V. Narasimha Rao ( 1921 -- 2004 ) Minister of External Affairs Indian National Congress ( I ) Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh 21 June 1991 16 May 7003179100000000000 ♠ 4 years, 330 days 1991 ( 10th ) Rao 10 Atal Bihari Vajpayee ( born 1924 ) Minister of External Affairs Bharatiya Janata Party Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 16 May 1 June 16 days 1996 ( 11th ) Vajpayee I Shankar Dayal Sharma 11 H.D. Deve Gowda ( born 1933 ) Chief Minister of Karnataka Janata Dal ( United Front ) Rajya Sabha MP for Karnataka 1 June 21 April 1997 324 days ( 11th ) Deve Gowda 12 Inder Kumar Gujral ( 1919 -- 2012 ) Minister of External Affairs Janata Dal ( United Front ) Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar 21 April 1997 19 March 1998 332 days ( 11th ) Gujral ( 10 ) Atal Bihari Vajpayee ( born 1924 ) Former Prime Minister Bharatiya Janata Party ( NDA ) Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 19 March 1998 22 May 7003225600000000000 ♠ 6 years, 64 days 1998 ( 12th ) Vajpayee II K.R. Narayanan Former Prime Minister ( Re-elected ) 1999 ( 13th ) Vajpayee III 13 Manmohan Singh ( born 1932 ) Minister of Finance Indian National Congress ( UPA ) Rajya Sabha MP for Assam 22 May 26 May 2014 7003365600000000000 ♠ 10 years, 4 days 2004 ( 14th ) M. Singh I A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Former Prime Minister ( Re-elected ) 2009 ( 15th ) M. Singh II Pratibha Patil 14 Narendra Modi ( born 1950 ) Chief Minister of Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party ( NDA ) Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 26 May 2014 Incumbent 7003123500000000000 ♠ 3 years, 139 days 2014 ( 16th ) Modi Pranab Mukherjee Jump up ^ Shekhar officially resigned as Prime Minister on 13 March 1991, but he and his ministers continued in office until Rao succeeded him See also Government of India portal India portal Prime Minister 's Office List of Prime Ministers of India by longevity List of Presidents of India References Jump up ^ `` In India, next generation of Gandhi dynasty ''. Washington Post. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 27. Jump up ^ Diplomat, Ankit Panda, The. `` BJP, Modi Win Landslide Victory in Indian Elections ''. The Diplomat. Retrieved 2016 - 12 - 27. Jump up ^ `` Indian National Congress ''. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 21 May 2014. Jump up ^ `` Former Prime Ministers ''. PM India. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015. Jump up ^ `` Narendra Modi appointed Prime Minister, swearing in on May 26 ''. The Times of India. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015. Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru Gulzarilal Nanda ( acting ) Lal Bahadur Shastri Gulzarilal Nanda ( acting ) Indira Gandhi Morarji Desai Charan Singh Rajiv Gandhi V.P. Singh Chandra Shekhar P.V. Narasimha Rao Atal Bihari Vajpayee H.D. Deve Gowda I.K. 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Question: who was india's longest serving prime minister
Answer: Jawaharlal Nehru