List of Prime Ministers of India From 1947 Till Date You are here: Home 2008 November List of Prime Ministers of India From 1947 Till Date List of Prime Ministers of India From 1947 Till Date Posted on 28th November 2008 | 67 Comments India became an ‘Independent’ country on 15th August 1947. The Following is a List of the Prime Ministers of India From 1947 Till Date:- The 1st / First Prime Minsiter of Independent India: PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, (Born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh on 14th November 1889 and Died in New Delhi on 27th May 1964, at the age of 74 years) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru of the Indian National Congress /INC had been the 1st/first Prime Minister of India from 15th August 1947 To 27th May 1964 continuously for 17 years for more than 4full terms.

Jawaharlal Nehru is one of the ‘Founder-Members’ of the “Indian National Congress”./INC. Jawaharlal Nehru died during his 4th term of his tenure as the Prime Minister of India. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was conferred on with India’s highest civilian award-the ‘Bharat Ratna’ in the year 1955. After the death of the 1st / Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri succeeded him as the 2nd /second Prime Minister of India. The 1st/First Interim Prime Minister of India: Mr.

GULZARILAL NANDA, (Born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan) on 4th July 1898 and died on 15th January 1998 at the age of 99 years), Gulzarilal Nanda had been the 1st / first Interim Prime Minister of India from 27th May 1964 To 9th June1964 for 14 days, after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru, until Lal Bahadur Shastri was selected as the 2nd/second Prime Minister of India. Mr. Gulzarilal Nanda had also been the 2nd/second “Interim Prime Minister” of India, after Lal Bahadur Shastri died on 11th January 1966, for 14 days from 11th January 1966 To 24th January 1966, until Mrs.Indira Gandhi was selected as the Third Prime Minister of India.

Mr.Gulzarilal Nanda was conferred on with India’s highest civilian award the ‘Bharat Ratna’ in the year 1997. The 2nd/Second Prime Minister of India: Mr.LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI (Born in Moghalsarai, Varanasi on 2nd October 1904 and died at Tashkent in USSR, while negotiating ‘Peace Talks’ on behalf of India with Pakistan on 11th January 1966 at the age of 61 years) Lal Bahadur Shastri of the Indian National Congress/INC had been the 2nd/second Prime Minister of India from 9th June 1964 To 11th January 1966, for 1 year and 7 months. Mr.Lal Bahadur Shastri succeeded the 1st / first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and was succeeded by Mrs.Indira Gandhi.

The 2nd/Second Interim Prime Minister of India: Mr.GULZARILAL NANDA had been the 2nd/second Interim Prime Minister of India from 11th January 1966 To 24th January 1966 for 14 days until Mrs.Indira Gandhi was selected as the 3rd /third Prime Minister of India. Mr.Gulzarilal Nanda had been the 1st/first Interim Prime Minister of India from 27th May 1964 to 9th June 1964 for 14 days, after the death of the 1st /first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, until Lal Bahadur Shastri was elected as the 2nd / second Prime Minister of India.

The 3rd/Third Prime Minister of India: Mrs.INDIRA GANDHI, Born in Allahabad on 19th November 1917 and shot dead in her Office-cum-Residence at New Delhi, by her own security guards on 31st October 1984 at the age of 66 years) Mrs.Indira Gandhi is the only daughter of the 1st/first Prime Minister of India-Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, hte first Prime Minister of India. Mrs.Indira Gandhi of the Indian National Congress/INC had been the 3rd / third Prime Minister of India, who had been in office for the following 2 different terms, for a total period of 15 years:.

1st Time:From 24th January 1966 To 24th March 1977, succeeding Lal Bahadur Shastri and succeeded by Morarji Desai and the 2nd Time: From 14th January 1980 To 31st October 1984 succeeding Charan Singh until she was shot dead by her own security guards Mrs.Indira Gandhi is the’First and the Only Lady Prime Minister of India’. Mrs.Indira Gandhi was conferred on with India’s highest civilian award the ‘Bharat Ratna’ in the year 1971 posthumously.

The 4th/Fourth Prime Minister of India: Mr.MORARJI DESAI (Born on 29th February 1896 in Bhadeli village in Bulsar district in the then Bombay Presidency, now in Gujarat and died in New Delhi on 10th April 1995 at the age of 99 years) Mr.Morarji Desai had been the 4th /fourth Prime Minister of India from 24th March 1977 To 28th July 1979, for 2 years and 4 months. Mr. Morarji Desai was the first Non-congress Prime Minister of India, who headed the Janata Party Government. Mr.Morarji Desai succeeded Mrs.Indira Gandhi and was succeeded by Charan Singh as the Prime Minister of India.

The 5th/Fifth Prime Minister of India: Mr.CHARAN SINGH (Born in Meerut on 23rd December 1902 and died on 29th May 1987 at the age of 84 years) Mr.Charan Singh had been the 5th /fifth Prime Minister of India from 28th July 1979 To 14th January 1980 for 5 and 1/2 months. Mr.Charan Singh was From Janata Party (Secular). Within a few days of his assuming office as the Prime Minister one of the supporting parties withdrew support and Mr.Charan Singh had been only a Caretaker Prime Minister.. Mr.Charan Singh succeeded Mr.Morarji Desai and was succeeded by Mrs.Indira Gandhi as the Prime Minister of India. After Charan Singh / From 14th January 1980 To 31st October 1984: Mrs Indira Gandhi of the Indian National Congress/INC was the Prime Minister of India for the second time, from 14th January 1980 to 31st October 1984.

Indira Gandhi was shot dead on 31st October 1984, by her own Security Guards in her official residence. The 6th/Sixth Prime Minister of India: Mr.RAJIV GANDHI, (Born in Allahabad on 20th August 1944 and Assassinated by ‘Human Bomb Blast’ in Sriperumpudur, near Chennai on 21st May 1991) Mr.Rajiv Gandhi is the first son of Mrs. Indira Gandhi and the Grandson of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Mr.Rajiv Gandhi of the Indian National Congress/INC had been the 6th /sixth Prime Minister of India from 31st October 1984 to 1st December 1989 for 5 years and 1 month. Mr.Rajiv Gandhi had been the youngest Prime Minister of India (at the age of 41 years.). Mr.Rajiv Gandhi was conferred on with India’s highest civilian award, the Bharar Ratna in the year 1991, posthumously.

Mr.Rajiv Gandhi succeeded Charan Singh and was succeeded by V.P.Singh as the Prime Minister of India. The 7th/Seventh Prime Minister of India: Mr.VISWANATH PRATAPH SINGH/ V.P.SINGH (Born in Allahbad on 25th June 1931 and died on 27th November 2008 at the age of 77 years) Mr.V.P.Singh had been the 7th /seventh Prime Minister of India from 2nd December 1989 To 10th November 1990 for 11 months. Mr.V.P.Singh was the head of the Janata Dal Government.

Mr.V.P.Singh succeeded Mr.Rajiv Gandhi and was succeeded by Mr.Chandra Shekar as the Prime Minister of India The 8th/ Eighth Prime Minister of India: Mr.CHANDRA SHEKAR (Born in Ibrahimpatti village in Ballia District in Uttar Pradesh on 1st July 1927 and died in New Delhi on 8th July 2007 at the age of 80 years) Mr.Chandra shekar had been the 8th /eighth Prime Minister of India of the Janata Dal Socialist Faction Supported by Indian National Congress of Rajiv Gandhi, from 10th November 1990 to 21st June 1991 for 7 months. Mr.Chandra shekar succeeded Mr.V.P.Singh and was succeeded by Mr.P.V.Narasimha Rao as the Prime Minister of India.

The 9th / Ninth Prime Minister of India: Mr.PAMULAPARTI VENKATA NARASIMHA RAO /P.V.NARASIHMA RAO (Born in Lakkampalli village of Narasampet in Warangal District.of Andhra Pradesh on 28th June 1921 and died in New Delhi on 23rd December 2004 at the age of 83 years) Mr.P.V.Narasimha Rao of the Indian National Congress/INC had been the 9th /ninth Prime Minister of India from 21st June 1991 to 16th May 1996 for 4 years and 11 months. Mr.P.V.Narasimha Rao is the first South Indian / the first from the State of Andhra Pradesh to become the Prime Minister of India. Mr.P.V.Narasimha Rao succeeded Mr.Chandra Shekar and was succeeded by Mr.A.B.Vajpayee as the Prime MInister of India.

The 10th/ Tenth Prime Minister of India: Mr.ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE/A.B.VAJPAYEE: (Born in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh on 25th December 1924- aged 91 years as of 25th December 2015) Mr.A.B.Vajpaye had been the 10th Prime Minister of India,in the following 2 terms: 1st Term:From 16th May 1996 To 1st June 1996 for 17 days as the Pime Minister of the Bharahiya Janata Party /BJP and a 2nd Term: From 19th March 1998 to 13th October 1999 for a period of 1 year, 6 months and 24 days as the Prime Mininster of a BJP led National Democratic Alliance /NDA and a 3rd Term: From 13th October 1999 to 22nd May 2004 for a period of 4 years 7 months and 9 days as the Prime Minister of the Bharathiya

 Janatha Party/ BJP led National Democratic Alliance/NDA Mr.A.B.Vajpayee had been the Prime Minister of India as the only Non -Congress Prime Minister who had completed a full 5 years term and he had been the Prime Minister of India for a total period of 6 years 2 months and 20 days (Non Consecutively) Mr.A.B.Vajpayee succeeded Mr.P.V.Narasimha Rao and was succeeded by Mr.H.D.Devegowda in the first term of his office of a short tenure of 17 days and he succeeded Mr.I.K.Gural in his 2nd term of office and he continued in office for a third term until he was succeeded by Dr.Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister of India.

Mr.A.B.Vajpayee was conferred on with the highest civilian award of India, the Bharat Ratna in the year 2015 The 11th/ Eleventh Prime Minister of India: Mr.HARADANAHALLI DODDE GOWDA DEVE GOWDA / H.D.DEVE GOWDA: (Born in Haradanahalli village of Holenarasipura taluk, Hassan District, Karnataka on 18th May 1933- 82 years old as of 18th May 2015) Mr.H.D.Dev Gowda had been the 11th /eleventh Prime Minister of India from from 1st June 1996 To 21st April 1997.for a period of 10 months and 20 days. Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister heading a ‘non-congress’ and non-BJP’ collision -“United Front”.

The 12th/ Twelfth Prime Minister of India: Dr.INDER KUMAR GUJRAL/ Dr.I.K.GUJRAL (Born in Jhelum, the Undivided Punjab, which is presently in Pakistan on 4th December 1919 and died in Gurgaon, Haryana on 30th November 2012 at the age of 92 years) Dr.I.KGujral had been the 12th/twelfth Prime Minister of India from from 21st April 1997 To 19th March 1998 for 11 months.as the Prime Minister of the Janata Dal Government. From 19th March 1998 To 22nd May 2004: Mr.Atal Bihari Vajpayee / A.B.Vajpayee was the Prime Minister of India for the second and the third time, From 19th March 1998 To 13th October 1999 and From 13th October 1999 To 22nd May 2004.

The 13th/ Thirteenth & the 14th /Fourteenth Prime Minister of India: Dr.MANMOHAN SINGH (Born in Gah, Punjab on 26th Sepetmber 1932-aged 83 years as on 26th Septmeber 2015) Dr.Manmohan Singh had been the 13th &the 14th Prime Minister of India from 22nd May 2004 till 26th May 2014, for a continuous and full 2 terms of 10 years as the Prime Minister of the Indian National Congress/ INC led United Progressive Alliane/ UPA.

The 15th/ Fifteenth and the Present Prime Minister of India From 26th May 2014: Mr.NARENDRA DAMODAR DAS MODI /NARENDRA MODI: (Born on 17th Septmeber 1950- aged 65 years as of 17th Septmeber 2015) Mr.Narendra Modi has taken charge as the Prime Minister of India from 26th May 2014, as the Prime Minister of the Bharathiya Janata Party/BJP led National Democratic Alliance/ NDA. Mr.Narendr Modi had been the Chief Minister of Gujarath from 2001 to 2014. More from my site 67 Responses to "List of Prime Ministers of India From 1947 Till Date" Nivitha Thanks For increasing my knowledge With these all information i like it .. B.S.Rautela It is very good data and information for coming generation and it will be preserved till the sun and moon on the earth. It is the only History and only History to the coming generation. Very Good, Nice.

Jawaharlal Nehru Early Life: On November 14, 1889, a wealthy Kashmiri Pandit lawyer named Motilal Nehru and his wife Swaruprani Thussu welcomed their first baby, a boy they named Jawaharlal. The family lived in Allahabad, at that time in the Northwest Provinces of British India (now Uttar Pradesh). Little Nehru was soon joined by two sisters, both of whom also had illustrious careers. Jawaharlal Nehru was educated at home, first by governesses and then by private tutors. He particularly excelled at science, while taking very little interest in religion. Nehru became an Indian nationalist quite early in life, and was thrilled by Japan's victory over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War (1905). That event prompted him to dream "of Indian freedom and Asiatic freedom from the thraldom of Europe." Education: At the age of 16, Nehru went to England to study at the prestigious Harrow School ( Winston Churchill's alma mater).

Two years later, in 1907, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where in 1910 he took an honors degree in natural sciences - botany, chemistry and geology. continue reading below our video Profile of Jawaharlal Nehru The young Indian nationalist also dabbled in history, literature and politics, as well as Keynesian economics, during his university days. In October of 1910, Nehru joined the Inner Temple in London to study law, at the insistence of his father. Jawaharlal Nehru was admitted to the bar in 1912; he was determined to take the Indian Civil Service exam, and use his education to fight against discriminatory British colonial laws and policies. By the time he returned to India, he had also been exposed to socialist ideas, which were popular amongst the intellectual class in Britain at the time. Socialism would become one of the foundation stones of modern India under Nehru. Politics and the Independence Struggle: Jawaharlal Nehru returned to India in August of 1912, where he began a half-hearted practice of law in the Allahabad High Court.

Young Nehru disliked the legal profession, finding it stultifying and "insipid." He was much more inspired by the 1912 annual session of the Indian National Congress (INC); however, the INC dismayed him with its elitism. Nehru joined a 1913 campaign led by Mohandas Gandhi , in the start of a decades-long collaboration. Over the next few years, he moved more and more into politics, and away from law. During the First World War (1914-18), most upper class Indians supported the Allied cause even as they enjoyed the spectacle of Britain humbled. Nehru himself was conflicted, but came down reluctantly on the side of the Allies, more in support of France than of Britain. More than 1 million Indian and Nepalese soldiers fought overseas for the Allies in World War I, and about 62,000 died. In return for this show of loyal support, many Indian nationalists expected concessions from Britain once the war was over, but they were to be bitterly disappointed. Call for Home Rule: Even during the war, as early as 1915, Jawaharlal Nehru began to call for Home Rule for India.

This meant that India would be a self-governing Dominion, yet still considered a part of the United Kingdom , much like Canada or Australia. Nehru joined the All India Home Rule League, founded by family friend Annie Besant , a British liberal and advocate for Irish and Indian self-rule. The 70-year-old Besant was such a powerful force that the British government arrested and jailed her in 1917, prompting huge protests. In the end, the Home Rule movement was unsuccessful, and it was later subsumed in Gandhi's Satyagraha Movement , which advocated complete independence for India. Meanwhile, in 1916, Nehru married Kamala Kaul. The couple had a daughter in 1917, who would later go on to be Prime Minister of India herself under her married name, Indira Gandhi . A son, born in 1924, died after just two days. Declaration of Independence: The Indian nationalist movement leaders, including Jawaharlal Nehru, hardened their stance against British rule in wake of the horrific Amritsar Massacre in 1919.

Nehru was jailed for the first time in 1921 for his advocacy of the non-cooperation movement. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Nehru and Gandhi collaborated ever more closely in the Indian National Congress, each going to prison more than once for civil disobedience actions. In 1927, Nehru issued a call for complete independence for India. Gandhi opposed this action as premature, so the Indian National Congress refused to endorse it. As a compromise, in 1928 Gandhi and Nehru issued a resolution calling for home rule by 1930, instead, with a pledge to fight for independence if Britain missed that deadline. The British government rejected this demand in 1929, so on New Year's Eve, at the stroke of midnight, Nehru declared India's independence and raised the Indian flag. The audience there that night pledged to refuse to pay taxes to the British, and to engage in other acts of mass civil disobedience . Gandhi's first planned act of non-violent resistance was a long walk down to the sea to make salt, known as the Salt March or Salt Satyagraha of March 1930.

Nehru and other Congress leaders were skeptical of this idea, but it struck a chord with the ordinary people of India and proved a huge success. Nehru himself evaporated some sea water to make salt in April of 1930, so the British arrested and jailed him again for six months. Nehru's Vision for India: During the early 1930s, Nehru emerged as the political leader of the Indian National Congress, while Gandhi moved into a more spiritual role. Nehru drafted a set of core principles for India between 1929 and 1931, called the "Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy," which was adopted by the All India Congress Committee. Among the rights enumerated were freedom of expression, freedom of religion, protection of regional cultures and languages, abolition of untouchable status , socialism, and the right to vote. As a result, Nehru is often called the "Architect of Modern India." He fought hardest for the inclusion of socialism, which many other Congress members opposed. During the later 1930s and early 1940s, Nehru also had almost sole responsibility for drafting the foreign policy of a future Indian nation-state.

World War II and the Quit India Movement: When the Second World War broke out in Europe in 1939, the British declared war against the Axis on behalf of India, without consulting India's elected officials. Nehru, after consulting with the Congress, informed the British that India was prepared to support democracy over Fascism , but only if certain conditions were met. The most important was that Britain must pledge that it would grant complete independence to India as soon as the war was over. The British Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, laughed at Nehru's demands. Linlithgow turned instead to the leader of the Muslim League, Muhammad ali Jinnah , who promised military support of Britain from India's Muslim population in return for a separate state, to be called Pakistan . The mostly-Hindu Indian National Congress under Nehru and Gandhi announced a policy of non-cooperation with Britain's war effort in response. When Japan pushed into Southeast Asia , and early in 1942 took control of most of Burma (Myanmar), which was on British India's eastern doorstep, the desperate British government approached the INC and Muslim League leadership once again for aid.

Churchill sent Sir Stafford Cripps to negotiate with Nehru, Gandhi and Jinnah. Cripps could not convince the pro-peace Gandhi to support the war effort for any consideration short of full and prompt independence; Nehru was more willing to compromise, so he and his mentor had a temporary falling-out over the issue. In August of 1942, Gandhi issued his famous call for Britain to "Quit India." Nehru was reluctant to pressure Britain at the time, since World War II was not going well for the British, but the INC passed Gandhi's proposal. In reaction, the British government arrested and imprisoned the entire INC working committee, including both Nehru and Gandhi. Nehru would remain in prison for almost three years, until June 15, 1945. Partition and Prime Ministership: The British released Nehru from prison after the war was over in Europe, and he immediately began to play a key role in negotiations over the future of India. Initially, he vigorously opposed plans to divide the country along sectarian lines into a predominantly-Hindu India and a predominantly-Muslim Pakistan, but when bloody fighting broke out between members of the two religions, he reluctantly agreed to the split.

After the Partition of India , Pakistan became an independent nation led by Jinnah on August 14, 1947, and India became independent the following day under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru embraced socialism, and was a leader of the international non-aligned movement during the Cold War, along with Nasser of Egypt and Tito of Yugoslavia. As Prime Minister, Nehru instituted wide-spread economic and social reforms that helped India reorganized itself as a unified, modernizing state. He was influential in international politics as well, but could never solve the problem of Kashmir and other Himalayan territorial disputes with Pakistan and with China . Sino-Indian War of 1962: In 1959, Prime Minister Nehru granted asylum to the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan refugees from China's 1959 Invasion of Tibet . This sparked tensions between the two Asian superpowers, which already had unsettled claims to the Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh areas in the Himalaya Mountain range. Nehru responded with his Forward Policy, placing military outposts along the disputed border with China, beginning in 1959.

On October 20, 1962, China launched a simultaneous attack at two points 1000 kilometers apart along the disputed border with India. Nehru was caught off guard, and India suffered a series of military defeats. By November 21, China felt that it had made its point, and unilaterally ceased fire. It withdrew from its forward positions, leaving the division of land the same as before the war, except that India had been driven from its forward positions across the Line of Control. India's force of 10,000 to 12,000 troops suffered heavy losses in the Sino-Indian War, with almost 1,400 killed, 1,700 missing, and nearly 4,000 captured by the Peoples Liberation Army of China. China lost 722 killed and about 1,700 wounded. The unexpected war and humiliating defeat profoundly depressed Prime Minister Nehru, and many historians claim that the shock may have hastened his death. Nehru's Death: Nehru's party was reelected to the majority in 1962, but with smaller percentages of the vote than before.

His health began to fail, and he spent a number of months in Kashmir during 1963 and 1964, trying to recuperate. Nehru returned to Delhi in May of 1964, where he suffered a stroke and then a heart attack on the morning of May 27. He died that afternoon. The Pandit's Legacy: Many observers expected Parliament member Indira Gandhi to succeed her father, even though he had voiced opposition to her serving as Prime Minister for fear of "dynastism." Indira turned down the post at that time, however, and Lal Bahadur Shastri took over as the second prime minister of India. Indira would later become the third prime minister, and her son Rajiv was the sixth to hold that title. Jawaharlal Nehru left behind the world's largest democracy, a nation committed to neutrality in the Cold War , and a nation developing quickly in terms of education, technology and economics. Manas: History and Politics, Constitution of India Independent India India acquired independence on 15 August 1947 though sections of the country were carved out and stitched together to create another new country, Pakistan.

The “institutional” road to independence was perhaps laid down by the Government of India Act of 1935, where the gradual emergence of India as a self-governing entity had first been partly envisioned. Following India's independence in 1947, the Constituent Assembly deliberated over the precise constitutional future of India. On 26 January 1950, India became a Republic, and the Constitution of India was promulgated. Jawaharlal Nehru had become the country’s first Prime Minister in 1947, and in 1952, in the country’s first general election with a universal franchise, Nehru led the Indian National Congress to a clear victory. The Congress had long been the principal political party in India, providing the leadership to the struggle for independence, and under Nehru’s stewardship it remained the largest and most influential party over the next three decades. In 1957, Nehru was elected to yet another five-year term as a member of the Lok Sabha and chosen to head the government.

His ‘regime’ was marked by the advent of five-year plans, designed to bring big science and industry to India; in Nehru's own language, steel mills and dams were to be the temples of modern India. Relations with Pakistan remained chilling, and the purported friendship of India and China proved to be something of a hoax. China’s invasion of India's borders in 1962 is said to have dealt a mortal blow to Nehru. Nehru was succeeded at his death on 27 May 1964 for a period of two weeks by Gulzarilal Nanda (1898-1998), a veteran Congress politician who became active in the non-cooperation movement in 1922 and served several prison terms, principally in 1932 and from 1942-44 during the Quit India movement. Nanda served as acting Prime Minister until the Congress had elected a new leader, Lal Bahadur Shastri, also a veteran politician who came of age during the Gandhi-led non-cooperation movement. Shastri was the compromise candidate who, perhaps unexpectedly, led the country to something of a victory over Pakistan in 1965.

Shastri and the vanquished Pakistani President, Muhammad Ayub Khan, signed a peace treaty at Tashkent in the former Soviet Union on 10 January 1966, but Shastri barely lived to witness the accolades that were now being showered upon him since he died of an heart attack the day after the treaty was signed. Shastri’s empathy for the subaltern classes is conveyed through the slogan, “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan”, “Hail the Soldier, Hail the Farmer”, which is attributed to him and through which he is remembered at Vijay Ghat, the national memorial to him in New Delhi in the proximity of Rajghat, the national memorial to Mohandas Gandhi. On Shastri’s death, the Congress was once again engulfed by an internal struggle. Gulzarilal Nanda once again served as the acting Prime Minister, again for a period of less than a month, before being succeeded by Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter.

By the late 1960s, Indira Gandhi had engineered a split in the Congress, as the only means to ensure her political survival, and the Congress party, which with every passing year was losing something of its shine, now went into a precipitous decline. In 1971, India crushed Pakistan in a short war that also saw the birth of Bangladesh, and Indira was now at the helm of her powers. But the Congress was now a mere shadow of its former self, and as domestic problems mounted and popular movements directed at Indira Gandhi began to show their effect, she resorted to more repressive measures. An internal emergency, which placed almost the entire opposition behind bars, was proclaimed in May 1975, and only removed in 1977; and the same opposition, which hastily convened to chart its strategy, achieved in delivering the Congress party its first loss in national elections. This government, serving various political interests and led by the victorious Janata Party, which had been formed out of various opposition parties, lasted a mere three years.

It was led by the controversial Gandhian and Congress stalwart, Morarji Desai, for two years, and for another year by Chaudhary Charan Singh (1902-1987), who came from a Jat farming community with roots in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The Lok Sabha or Lower Assembly never met during Charan Singh’s Prime Ministership and the political alliance crumbled. Indira Gandhi rode a spectacular wave of victory in 1980. But she did not live to complete her term: shot by her own Sikh bodyguards, who sought to avenge the destruction unleashed upon the Golden Temple, the venerable shrine of the Sikh faith, by Indian government troops given the task of flushing out the terrorists holed in the shrine, she was succeeded by her son, Rajiv Gandhi, in late 1984. In the December 1994 Lok Sabha elections, Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress party won a landslide election.

But Rajiv’s premiership was to be marked by numerous political disasters, and Rajiv’s own name was tainted by the allegation that he had received huge bribes from a Swedish firm of Bofors, manufacturers of a machine-gun for which the Indian army placed a large order. His own finance minister, V. P. Singh (1931-), once a Indira Gandhi loyalist who had been picked by her in 1980 to serve as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, was to turn against Rajiv; and in 1989, V. P. Singh led the Janata Party to an electoral rout over the Congress. However, the revived Janata party mustered only 145 votes, and it had to take the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by L. K. Advani and Atal Behari Vajpayee, in order to form a government. It is at this juncture that India truly entered the era of coalition governments. V. P.

Singh would soon be brought down by two disputes: one over the status of the Babri Masjid, a sixteenth-century mosque that Hindu militants claimed had been built over the Ram Janmasthan [birthplace], and the second over the recommendations of the Mandal commission pertaining to quotas for various elements of India’s underprivileged masses. On 7 November 1990, by a vote of 356-151, V. P. Singh lost the confidence of the Lok Sabha, and some days later Chandra Sekhar (1927-), with the support of Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress, was sworn in as the next prime minister. However, Congress withdrew its support in March 1991, and elections were called in May. On 21 May 1991, as intense electioneering was taking place, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a Sri Lankan suicide bomber. The mantle of Congress leadership fell on the veteran P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921-2004), who led the party to triumph, even as the BJP raised the number of its seats in Parliament from a little over 80 to 120.

On 6 December 1992, acting in defiance of Supreme Court orders, Hindu militants destroyed the Babri Masjid, and so initiated one of the most intense crises in India’s post-independent history. Rao weathered many a storm, and presided over the liberalization of the economy -- the architect of which was Manmohan Singh, then Finance Minister and, since 2004, the Prime Minister of India. But Rao could not keep the BJP and its friends in check. In the general elections of 1996, the BJP emerged as the largest party, but its 194 seats were not enough to give it a working majority in the 545-seat Lok Sabha, and Atal Behari Vajpayee’s first government lasted a mere twelve days.

A 13-party coalition of the United National Front and the Indian left was brought into power, and Deve Gowda, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, was raised to the office of the Prime Minister; but after less than a year in office, he resigned and was succeeded by Inder Kumar Gujral, whose main contribution in office was to bequeath “the Gujral doctrine” – a reference to his genuine attempts to mend India’s relations with its South Asian neighbors, based on the principle that as the largest country, India could afford to be generous, and did not have to require reciprocity for all its munificent actions. But Gujral’s government similarly lasted less than a year; and in the general elections of February 1998, the BJP emerged again as the single largest party, this time with 200 seats. Vajpayee was invited to form a government, and did so with a coalition of several parties, including the AIADMK, led by Jayalalitha. Nothing that the BJP did was so ripe with consequences as the decision to turn India into a nuclear state with a series of nuclear tests in May 1998.

The coalition, not unpredictably, broke down; but the general elections of September 1999, in which the BJP again emerged as the single largest party, and the Congress had a poor showing at the polls, despite being led by Sonia Gandhi, a scion of the ‘Nehru dynasty’, were to reinforce the impression that regional parties and politics have fundamentally altered the state of Indian politics. Under Vajpayee, the BJP presided over the country’s destiny until 2004, even though it was becoming inescapably clear that the dominance of any one party is no longer a foregone conclusion and that coalition politics appears to be the way of the future. Many commentators were rightfully alarmed by various ominous developments that transpired during the BJP’s years in office, such as the coercive Hinduization of the country, the inability of the state to guarantee the rights of religious minorities, and other obvious manifestations of an utter disregard for human rights, such as state-sponsored killings in Kashmir, the north-east, and elsewhere, or the oppressions unleashed upon Christians and women.

On the other hand, Vajpayee and the BJP are not only credited with having administered a crushing blow to Pakistan’s adventurism on the Himalayan mountain tops at Kargil, but with having spearheaded a rapid expansion of the Indian economy. In provincial elections held in several states in late 2003, the BJP registered impressive triumphs and the party leadership was led into thinking that, in calling for early elections, it could consolidate its gains with a magisterial showing in national elections. The BJP waged a campaign on the slogan of “India Shining”, trumpeting the emergence of India as a major power. However, the Indian electorate once again showed that it was not to be taken for granted, and the BJP and its allies lost to a coalition headed by the Congress party. [ See India’s Moment: Elections 2004. ] The Fourteenth Lok Sabha convened on 17 May 2004 and Manmohan Singh (1932-) assumed the office of the Prime Minister at the head of what is known as the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government.

The UPA is supported by the Left Front, a coalition of parties headed by the CPM, or the Communist Party of India (Marxist). For a Slovak translation of this page, go to: For a Russian translation of this page, go to: Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi World Leaders & Revolutionaries Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, visiting Austria. Hotel Imperial in Vienna. (1983). (Photo by Nora Schuster/Imagno/Getty Images) By Patricia Daniels, Contributing Writer Who Was Indira Gandhi? Indira Nehru Gandhi was the first female prime minister of India, serving three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977 and a fourth term from 1980 to 1984. She was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India after independence was achieved from the British in 1947. Although she was a popular and beloved leader, Indira Gandhi shocked many with her dictatorial tactics during her third term in office. She was assassinated in 1984 by Sikh extremists.

Dates: November 19, 1917 – October 31, 1984 Also Known As: Indira Priyadarshini Nehru Famous Quote: "You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist." A Childhood Steeped in Politics Indira Nehru was born November 19, 1917 in Allahabad in northern India, the only child of Kamala Kaul and Jawaharlal Nehru . The Hindu society into which Indira was born operated on a strict caste system , in which people were divided into different hereditary class levels. The wealthy Nehru family belonged to the highest caste level, the Brahmins. continue reading below our video Profile of Indira Gandhi Indira's father was educated in England and graduated from Cambridge University as a barrister. Indira's parents hosted many visitors in their large, beautiful home, which often served as a meeting place for those involved in the fight for Indian independence. At the time of Indira's birth, India had been under British rule since the late 18th century. As Indians grew ever resentful of British involvement in their affairs, the British crushed any attempts at resistance.

Indira's father, Jawaharlal Nehru, along with Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi , emerged as leaders of the growing movement for independence. As the movement gained momentum, many more Indians joined the cause and were willing to face imprisonment and even death to achieve India's freedom. The struggle for independence that surrounded young Indira came to define her childhood. Her father and grandfather, both high level members of the Indian National Congress, were repeatedly arrested and imprisoned for their participation in protests. Because the family refused to pay fines ordered by the court, police officers frequently came to confiscate items from the house. Perhaps in part because of the events that surrounded her, young Indira was always strong-willed and eager to speak her mind. Despite her feisty demeanor, however, Indira was physically frail and prone to respiratory ailments throughout her life. Revolt Against the British Indira began her schooling at an Indian public school, then later transferred to a private English school at the insistence of her grandfather. Her father disapproved, wary of the influence the British would have upon his daughter; thus, Indira left the school and received private tutoring in her home. When Indira was five years old, the nationalist movement launched a new tactic.

At the urging of Mahatma Gandhi, Indians boycotted imported products. They stopped buying British goods, and many (including Indira's family) took all of their foreign belongings out of their homes and burned them on their lawns. Young Indira tearfully added her favorite dolls to the bonfire. In 1926, Indira's mother contracted tuberculosis (TB). Doctors advised Nehru to take his wife to Switzerland for medical care. The family of three lived in Geneva for a year, during which time Indira met and mingled with students of various nationalities. She gained confidence in herself and became more mature, proud that she could help care for her mother, as well as navigate the city and shop at the market. Kamala's condition improved and the family sailed home in late 1927. Return to India Back in India, Jawaharlal Nehru renewed his commitment to the independence movement and was again imprisoned for his role in demonstrations. Indira, inspired by her father's activism, formed a group with other young people.

The Vanar Sena, or "Monkey Brigade" (named after a well-known Indian poem), made important contributions to the nationalist movement by sewing flags, serving food to demonstrators, and writing letters for prisoners who were unable to write. Through these activities, Indira met a young man named Feroze Gandhi (not related to Mahatma Gandhi). He became a close friend to Indira and a frequent visitor to the Nehru home. (Feroze would later become Indira's husband.) In 1929, Indira's father was elected to lead the Indian Congress, succeeding his father. Nehru's first act as president of Congress was to draft a resolution seeking complete independence for the Indian people. In January 1929, Indira's grandfather, Motilal Nehru, became very ill, prompting prison officials to release both him and his son from prison. Motilal died in February 1929. Life at Boarding School By late 1931, Indira's mother's health deteriorated further, necessitating a stay in a TB sanitarium.

Concerned that his daughter would be left alone at home if he were imprisoned again, Nehru opted to send 14-year-old Indira to a small boarding school in Poona, a thousand miles from their home. Indira missed her parents terribly. In 1933, Indira graduated from the Poona school at the age of 16. She enrolled at Shantineketan, a university in Bengal in eastern India run by a famous Indian poet. At her new, rather unconventional school, Indira learned the art of meditation, as well as classical Indian dancing and painting. After only a year and a half at her new school, Indira was forced to leave Shantineketan to accompany her mother back to Switzerland for treatment of her TB. The treatment was not successful; Kamala died on February 28, 1936 at the age of 36. Eighteen-year-old Indira was devastated at the loss of her mother. In London at the Outset of WWII After her mother's death, Indira made the decision to go to England to continue her education, just as her father and grandfather had done.

After initially failing the entrance exam for Oxford, Indira finally gained admittance in 1937. She enjoyed her studies at Oxford, but missed her father and her homeland. Classmates at Oxford—including British writer Iris Murdoch —later characterized Indira as aloof and withdrawn at times. Always prone to illness, Indira was forced to take time off from school in fall of 1938, when she was diagnosed with pleurisy . After a three-week hospitalization, Indira recuperated in India, returning to Oxford in April 1939. By the time Indira decided she would return to India for good, however, Europe was in the throes of World War II . Hitler had invaded several European nations and the Germans had begun bombing raids on London. Indira volunteered with the Red Cross, driving an ambulance and assisting air-raid victims, but soon realized it was too dangerous to stay. Accompanied by Feroze Gandhi, her childhood friend (who had also studied in London), Indira began the long trip back to India via ship in February 1941.They arrived in Mumbai, India in March. Indira's father, in prison once again, was not there to greet her.

Marriage to Feroze Gandhi Soon after Indira's return, she announced to her father that she had accepted Feroze Gandhi's proposal of marriage. The announcement was met with shock and disapproval, not only by Nehru, but also by members of India's Hindu community. The engagement was considered scandalous because Feroze was from a lower social class and belonged to a different religious group. (He was a Parsi , whereas Indira was a Hindu .) Nehru tried to convince Indira to end the engagement, but she warned him she would never speak to him again if he didn't give his approval. Nehru sought the advice of Mahatma Gandhi, whom he trusted implicitly. Gandhi met with the couple and gave them his blessing. On March 26, 1942, 24-year-old Indira and 29-year-old Feroze were married. Imprisonment and Motherhood In August 1942, the Indian Congress issued a resolution known as "Quit India," which demanded that the British leave their country. A nationwide campaign of civil disobedience began, consisting of strikes and protests.

The British, already mired in conflict both in Europe and along the northern Indian border, where Japanese troops threatened to invade, had no patience for the protests. British troops killed thousands of protestors and arrested many more, including nearly the entire Indian Congress. Indira and Feroze joined protestors in Allahabad in September 1942. Indira was beaten by police, and both she and Feroze were arrested. Each spent several months in prison. Once out of prison, the couple reunited and Feroze found a job selling insurance. Indira, exhausted from her time in jail, needed to be hospitalized for a respiratory infection soon after her release. On August 20, 1944, Indira gave birth to a son, whom she and Feroze named Rajiv. Indira's focus turned to raising her son. Being a good mother was especially important to her, given the difficult nature of her own childhood, complicated by her father's many imprisonments and her mother's illness. Indira had a second son, Sanjay, in December 1946. The family moved to the northeastern city of Lucknow, where Feroze worked as editor of a newspaper.

Hope Gives Way to Violence By the end of World War II in 1945, India had still not achieved independence, thanks in part to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's vehement opposition. However, Churchill's defeat by the Labor Party in July 1945 paved the way for the creation of a free Indian state. The new prime minister, a supporter of Indian independence, freed all political prisoners soon after taking office. Acting as leader of the interim government, Nehru traveled to Delhi to negotiate with the British in July 1946. Much to his dismay, he learned of a movement initiated by Muslims to separate India into two states: a Hindu India and a Muslim Pakistan . Both Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi very much opposed a divided India, but were powerless to stop the movement or the violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims. Hundreds of thousands of Indians were killed. Mass migrations took place, with Indian Muslims making the trek to Pakistan and Hindus from Pakistan fleeing to India. At her father’s request, Indira, whose youngest son was just a few months old, traveled to various parts of India in an attempt to help bring about peace between Hindus and Muslims.

Because the situation was so volatile, Indira's father insisted that she travel with police protection at all times. As the country moved toward independence, the fighting raged on. Indian Independence and the Assassination of Gandhi The long-awaited day came at last on August 15, 1947, when the flag of India was hoisted, replacing the Union Jack . The Indian Independence Act, passed by the British Parliament the previous month, had created the independent states of India and Pakistan. West Pakistan was situated on the northwestern border of India; East Pakistan was 1200 miles away on India's northeastern border. In January 1948, Mahatma Gandhi began a fast in protest of the violence between the two groups. Willing to die for the cause he believed in, Gandhi vowed he would not eat until the fighting stopped. He broke his fast on the sixth day, only after leaders from both groups agreed to work on a peaceful solution. Just two days later, on January 30, 1948, 78-year-old Mahatma Gandhi was shot and killed by a young Hindu fanatic. Indira had just paid Gandhi a visit the day before he died.

The entire country mourned the loss of the great leader who had championed the cause of independence. Indira Holds Political Office Nehru began his term as India's first prime minister, bereft at the loss of the man who had been his mentor and adviser for so many years. Indira soon stepped into the role of assistant and confidante to her father, moving from Lucknow to Delhi with her sons to be at his side. In 1952, Feroze was elected to Congress, enabling him to move to Delhi to be with his family and live in the prime minister's residence with them. For Feroze, the situation was far from ideal. He and Nehru argued frequently and Indira's constant traveling took its toll upon her marriage. Feroze moved out of the residence and into official Parliamentary housing. He was rumored to have had affairs. As Nehru sought to develop India's foreign policy, he traveled to many countries, including the United States, the Soviet Union, China, Britain, and others, usually accompanied by Indira. Acting as her father's official assistant, Indira became well-known and respected both at home and abroad.

In 1955, she was elected to the Congressional Working Committee and in 1959 became president of the Congress — the same position held by both her father and grandfather before her. Overwhelmed by her many responsibilities, 43-year-old Indira Gandhi opted not to run for re-election in 1960. After Feroze suffered a heart attack later that year, the couple reconciled and went on an extended vacation following his recovery. Only months later, Feroze had a second heart attack and died on September 8, 1960, with Indira at his side. Despite her grief, 42-year-old Indira soon went back to work with her father. Death of Nehru and Indira's Election as Prime Minister As Nehru grew older and less able to carry out his duties, Indira took on more of his responsibilities, traveling to the U.S. and Europe on her father's behalf. In May 1964, Nehru died of a stroke at the age of 74. Nehru was succeeded by Lal Bahadur Shastri , who was designated to serve until the next election.

Shastri appointed Indira as minister for information and broadcasting, in part because he knew she was well-liked by the Indian people. Shastri did not complete his term, dying of a heart attack on January 10, 1966 after less than two years in office. With the support of the Congress Party, Indira ran for prime minister against Moraji Desai. She won by a large margin, becoming India's third prime minister on January 24, 1966. At 48 years old, Indira Gandhi was only the second female prime minister in history. (Sri Lanka had elected a female prime minister in 1960.) Three Consecutive Terms Indira Gandhi was re-elected in the regular election in 1967, but by a smaller margin. In her first full term, she dealt with many difficult issues, including a major drought, famine, and the ever-present issue of warring religious factions in India. Indira ran for a second, full term and was sworn in on March 1, 1971. That same year, civil war broke out between East Pakistan and West Pakistan.

Indira was forced into the conflict on December 3, 1971,when the Pakistani air force bombed several Indian airfields. Indira sent Indian troops into East Pakistan. The East Pakistanis surrendered on December 14, and were eventually granted independence; the new country was named Bangladesh. India's problems deepened over the next three years. With poverty and hunger on the rise, dissatisfaction among Indian people intensified, leading to widespread strikes and protests. Indira responded by having strikers and union leaders arrested, angering many Indian people. In May 1974, India joined the nuclear arms race by exploding an underground nuclear device. Indira's intention was to harness nuclear energy to provide electrical power for India, but many world leaders voiced concern that yet another nation had gained access to nuclear power. Indira Imposes State of Emergency In June 1975, Indira was accused of having violated election laws during her campaign in 1971. But just as she was about to be removed from office for these infractions, Indira—acting with her son Sanjay as her adviser—instituted a national state of emergency.

In what amounted to a virtual dictatorship, Indira imposed heavy restrictions upon citizens, including press censorship, mass arrests, and a highly controversial mandatory sterilization program. Both Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay—who was seen as ruthless and power-hungry—came under heavy criticism. When Indira finally relaxed the state of emergency and allowed democratic elections in March 1977, she was soundly defeated by the Janata Party. After eleven years (three consecutive terms) as prime minister, she found herself once again a private citizen, with time to relax and enjoy her grandchildren. A Fourth Term A year later, however, Indira returned to politics. She ran for Parliament in 1978 and won, but the ruling party, which feared her return to power, had the election results thrown out. Indira and Sanjay were briefly imprisoned for official corruption. Determined to win back the title of prime minister in the upcoming January 1980 elections, Indira campaigned heavily. Her hard work paid off, helped along by a highly unpopular ruling party. Indira Gandhi succeeded at winning a fourth term as prime minister at the age of 62.

Only five months after Indira's victory, on June 23, 1980, she suffered another enormous loss when son Sanjay was killed in a plane crash. She had lost not only a son, but also her closest political ally. Indira convinced her other son, Rajiv, to run for Sanjay's seat in Parliament. He won the seat by a large majority in June 1981. The Assassination of Indira Gandhi In June 1984, Indira Gandhi was faced with a rebellion in the Punjab region by Sikhs (an ethnic and religious group in India). A group of extremist Sikhs who sought to create an independent state had taken refuge in the Golden Temple, considered their holiest shrine. Local authorities dared not enter such a holy place, even though the men within faced arrest for terrorist acts. Indira launched Operation Bluestar on June 6, sending in the Indian army to storm the temple. Hundreds of Sikhs were killed and their temple desecrated, angering even the most moderate Sikhs. After Indira Gandhi received numerous death threats, her son Rajiv insisted that she wear a bulletproof vest.

Indira had long employed Sikh guards to protect her, but had been warned that she should replace them in view of recent events. She had refused. On the morning of October 31, 1984, as she walked along her garden path, she was ambushed by two of her trusted Sikh guards. They opened fire on Indira Gandhi—who was not wearing her bulletproof vest—killing her instantly. She was 66 years old. Only hours after his mother's death, Rajiv was sworn in as prime minister.

Question: Who succeeded Nehru as the second Prime Minister of India?
Answer: (Lal) SHASTRI