List of Prime Ministers of India - Wikipedia List of Prime Ministers of India India This article is part of a series on the politics and government of India Constitution and law Constitutional amendment Basic structure doctrine Fundamental rights Human rights -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 Uniform civil code Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 Indian Penal Code Law enforcement Government of India President ( Head of state ) ( List ) Vice president ( List ) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Executive : Prime minister ( Head of government ) ( List ) Union Council of Ministers Cabinet secretary Secretaries : ( Defence Finance Foreign Home ) Civil services All India Services ( IAS IFoS IPS ) Central Civil Services ( IRS IFS IA&AS IPoS IRAS IRTS IRPS ICAS IDAS IDES ICLS IIS ITrS IP&TAFS IOFS ) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Legislature : Parliament Rajya Sabha ( Chairman ) Lok Sabha ( Speaker ) Judiciary : Supreme court ( Chief justice ) High courts ( Chief justices ) District courts Elections Election commission : Chief Election Commissioner ( Election commissioners ) Recent general elections : 2009 2014 2019 Recent state elections : 2017 2018 2019 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Political parties National parties State parties National coalitions : National Democratic Alliance ( NDA ) United Progressive Alliance ( UPA ) Federalism Administrative divisions -- -- -- -- -- -- -- State governments Governors ( List ) Chief ministers ( List ) Chief secretary ( Principal secretaries ) Field - level officers Divisional commissioners District magistrates Sub-divisional magistrates Legislatures : Vidhan Sabha Vidhan Parishad -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Local governments : Rural bodies : District councils Block panchayats Gram Panchayats Urban bodies : Municipal corporations Municipal councils Nagar panchayats Other countries Atlas 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 family 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 seven - 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. Contents 1 Key 2 Prime Ministers of India 3 See also 4 References 4.1 General 4.2 Specific 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 ) Portrait Prior Office Party ( Alliance ) Elected constituency Term of office Appointed by Lok Sabha Jawaharlal Nehru ( 1889 -- 1964 ) Vice President of Executive Council Indian National Congress Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh 15 August 1947 15 April 1952 16 years, 286 days Lord Mountbatten Constituent Assembly 15 April 1952 17 April 1957 Rajendra Prasad 1st 17 April 1957 2 April 1962 2nd 2 April 1962 27 May 1964 3rd -- Gulzarilal Nanda ( acting ) ( 1898 -- 1998 ) Minister of Labour and Employment Indian National Congress Sabarkantha, Gujarat 27 May 1964 9 June 1964 13 days Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Lal Bahadur Shastri ( 1904 -- 1966 ) Minister of Home Affairs Indian National Congress Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh 9 June 1964 11 January 1966 1 year, 216 days -- Gulzarilal Nanda ( acting ) ( 1898 -- 1998 ) Minister of Home Affairs Indian National Congress Sabarkantha, Gujarat 11 January 1966 24 January 1966 13 days Indira Gandhi ( 1917 -- 1984 ) Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prime Minister ( Re-elected ) Indian National Congress Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh Amethi, Uttar Pradesh 24 January 1966 4 March 1967 11 years, 59 days 4 March 1967 15 March 1971 V.V. Giri 4th 15 March 1971 24 March 1977 5th 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 2 years, 126 days B.D. Jatti ( acting President ) 6th Charan Singh ( 1902 -- 1987 ) Minister of Finance Janata Party ( Secular ) with INC Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh 28 July 1979 14 January 1980 170 days Neelam Sanjiva Reddy ( 3 ) Indira Gandhi ( 1917 -- 1984 ) Former Prime Minister Indian National Congress ( I ) Medak, Andhra Pradesh 14 January 1980 31 October 1984 4 years, 291 days 7th 6 Rajiv Gandhi ( 1944 -- 1991 ) MP for Amethi Indian National Congress ( I ) Amethi, Uttar Pradesh 31 October 1984 31 December 1984 5 years, 32 days Zail Singh 31 December 1984 2 December 1989 8th 7 Vishwanath Pratap Singh ( 1931 -- 2008 ) Minister of Defence Janata Dal ( National Front ) Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh 2 December 1989 10 November 1990 343 days R. Venkataraman 9th 8 Chandra Shekhar ( 1927 -- 2007 ) MP for Ballia Samajwadi Janata Party with INC Ballia, Uttar Pradesh 10 November 1990 21 June 1991 223 days 9 Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao ( 1921 -- 2004 ) Minister of External Affairs Indian National Congress ( I ) Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh 21 June 1991 16 May 4 years, 330 days 10th 10 Atal Bihari Vajpayee ( 1924 -- 2018 ) Minister of External Affairs Bharatiya Janata Party Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 16 May 1 June 16 days Shankar Dayal Sharma 11th 11 Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda ( born 1933 ) Chief Minister of Karnataka Janata Dal ( United Front ) Rajya Sabha MP for Karnataka 1 June 21 April 1997 324 days 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 ( 10 ) Atal Bihari Vajpayee ( 1924 -- 2018 ) Former Prime Minister Bharatiya Janata Party ( NDA ) Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 19 March 1998 10 October 1999 6 years, 64 days K.R. Narayanan 12th 10 October 1999 22 May 13th 13 Manmohan Singh ( born 1932 ) Minister of Finance Indian National Congress ( UPA ) Rajya Sabha MP for Assam 22 May 22 May 2009 10 years, 4 days A.P.J. Abdul Kalam 14th 22 May 2009 26 May 2014 Pratibha Patil 15th 14 Narendra Modi ( born 1950 ) Chief Minister of Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party ( NDA ) Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 26 May 2014 Incumbent 4 years, 156 days Pranab Mukherjee 16th Jump up ^ Although the Prime Minister can be a member of either house of the Parliament, they have to command the confidence of the Lok Sabha. Upon dissolution of the Lok Sabha, the outgoing PM remains in office until their successor is sworn - in. Jump up ^ The Constituent Assembly of India consisted of 389 members elected in 1946 by the provincial assemblies by a single, transferable - vote system of proportional representation. The Assembly was replaced by the Provisional Parliament of India after adoption of the Constitution on 26 January 1950 until the first general elections. Jump up ^ Chandra 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 General `` Former Prime Minister 's of India ''. Prime Minister 's Office ( PMO ). Retrieved 22 November 2017. `` Gallery of Prime Ministers ''. Press Information Burea. Retrieved 22 November 2017. Guha, Ramachandra ( 2011 ). India After Gandhi : The History of the World 's Largest Democracy. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9780330540209. Brass, Paul R. ( 1994 ). The Politics of India Since Independence. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521459709. Specific Jump up ^ Constitutional Government in India. S. Chand Publishing. 2003. ISBN 9788121922036. Jump up ^ `` Former Prime Ministers Prime Minister of India ''. www.pmindia.gov.in. Retrieved 2018 - 01 - 03. 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. Gujral Manmohan Singh Narendra Modi List List by longevity Official residence PM 's Office Indian union ministries Interim Nehru I Nehru II Nehru III Nehru IV Shastri I. Gandhi I I. Gandhi II Desai C. Singh I. Gandhi III R. Gandhi V.P. Singh Chandra Shekhar Rao Vajpayee I Deve Gowda Gujral Vajpayee II Vajpayee III M. Singh I M. 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Question: who was the prime minister of india in 1997
Answer: Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda