Question: who was the prime minister of india in 1997
Answer: 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.