Prime Minister of India
\'
Incumbent	Manmohan Singh since: May 22 2004
Appointer	The President or by
Inaugural	President of India
Formation	August 15 1947

The Prime Minister of India is, in practice, the most powerful person in the Government of India. The Prime Minister is technically outranked by the head of state, the President of India. But, as is typical in most parliamentary democracies, because the head of state\'s duties are largely ceremonial, the Prime Minister is the head of government and has effective responsibility for executive power.

India follows a parliamentary system of government, known as the Westminster system after that of the United Kingdom. In this system, the Prime Minister is generally the leader of a party (or coalition of parties) that has a majority in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. The Prime Minister either has to be a current member of one of the houses of Parliament, or be elected within six months of being appointed.

Appointment of the Prime Minister

Formally, the Prime Minister is appointed by the President. The President is expected to invite that person to be the Prime Minister who has been elected the leader of the parliamentary party that commands an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha. But when no single party enjoys a majority, the president has some discretion: he or she may invite the leader of a combination of parties constituting the majority in the Lok Sabha or the leader of the single largest party in the Lok Sabha.

Powers and functions

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The Prime Minister selects the members of the Council of Ministers who are formally appointed by the President. He allocates portfolios among the ministers and he can drop any minister. The Prime Minister presides over the meetings of the Council of Ministers. He decides the policies of the government. He coordinates the work of different ministries and solves inter - departmental conflicts. The Prime Minister is the Chairperson of the Planning Commission which is a key body in the process of planning.

The Prime Minister advises the President on all important matters like appointments judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court, Chief Election Commissioner, Comptroller and Auditor General. He also advises the President on the summoning and proroguing of the Parliament, the dissolving of the Lok Sabha and the declaration of emergencies.

He is a link between the President and the Cabinet.

Prime Ministers through the years

Fourteen individuals have served as Prime Minister of India. Jawaharlal Nehru served for four consecutive terms (1947-1952, 1952-1957, 1957-1962, and 1962-1964). Indira Gandhi served three times (1966-1971, 1971-1977, and 1980-1984), and Atal Behari Vajpayee served on three occasions (1996, 1998-1999, 1999-2004). Gulzari Lal Nanda served as acting Prime Minister during two transition periods.

The early years were dominated by the Indian National Congress party, which held the premiership for the first thirty years of India\'s independence. Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress Prime Minister in 1977, representing the broad Janata coalition. In December 1989 V P Singh of that coalition\'s successor, the Janata Dal, became the first prime minister of that party. In 1996, Atal Behari Vajpayee of the Bharatiya Janata Party became the first person from that party to become Prime Minister. He was again returned to power in 1998 and in 1999. The 2004 elections to the Lok Sabha restored Congress to power, and Dr. Manmohan Singh was named the Prime Minister-designate on 19 May 2004. He was sworn in on May 22,2004. Singh is the first Sikh Prime Minister of India. He is also the only Prime Minister who has never been elected to the Lok Sabha.

Four out of the 13 prime ministers were born in Allahabad; the University of Allahabad has produced three prime ministers; and two prime ministers represented Allahabad as MPs. Thus, the city of Allahabad in some way or other has produced eight prime ministers out of the 14 (including the one acting prime minister). Seven out of the 13 prime ministers were born in India\'s largest state, Uttar Pradesh; nine prime ministers studied in Uttar Pradesh; and ten prime ministers represented constituencies in Uttar Pradesh as MPs. Thus the state of Uttar Pradesh in some way or other has produced nine prime ministers out of the 14.

The official residence of the Prime Minister of India is 7 Race Course Road. Some prime ministers have chosen to use part of their official residence as their office too, in other words, 7 RCR has functioned as the PMO (Prime Minister\'s Office) on several occasion in the past. The incumbent prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh\'s PMO is located at South Block and not at 7 RCR.

List of Prime Ministers of India

      Indian National Congress       Janata Party       Janata Dal       Bharatiya Janata Party

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Date of Birth and Death	Political party	Birth Place
1	Jawaharlal Nehru		15 August 1947	itle="27 May">27 May 1964 â™	14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964	Indian National Congress	Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
2	Gulzarilal Nanda		27 May 1964	9 June 1964 *	4 July 1898 - 15 January 1998	Indian National Congress	Sialkot, Punjab
3	Lal Bahadur Shastri		9 June 1964	11 January 1966 â™	2 October 1904 - 11 January 1966	Indian National Congress	Mughalsarai, Uttar Pradesh
2	Gulzarilal Nanda		11 January 1966	19 January 1966 *	4 July 1898 - 15 January 1998	Indian National Congress	Sialkot, Punjab
4	Indira Gandhi		19 January 1966♥	24 March 1977	19 November 1917 - 31 October 1984	Indian National Congress	Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
5	Morarji Desai		24 March 1977	28 July 1979 ♦	29 February, 1896 - 10 April, 1995	Janata Party	Valsad, Gujarat
6	Choudhary Charan Singh		28 July 1979	15 January 1980 ♣	23 December, 1902 - 29 May, 1987	Janata Party	Noorpur, Uttar Pradesh
4	Indira Gandhi		15 January 1980 ♥	31 October 1984 â™	19 November 1917 - 31 October 1984	Indian National Congress	Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
7	Rajiv Gandhi		31 October 1984	2 December 1989	20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991	Indian National Congress (Indira)	Mumbai, Maharashtra
8	Vishwanath Pratap Singh		2 December 1989	10 November 1990 ♣	b. 25 June 1931	Janata Dal	Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
9	Chandra Shekhar		10 November 1990	21 June 1991	1 July 1927 – 8 July 2007	Samajwadi Janata Party	Ibrahimpatti - Ballia, Uttar Pradesh
10	P. V. Narasimha Rao		21 June 1991	16 May 1996	28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004	Indian National Congress	Karimnagar, Andra Pradesh
11	Atal Behari Vajpayee		16 May 1996	1 June 1996 ♣	b. 25 December, 1924	Bharatiya Janata Party	Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh
12	H. D. Deve Gowda		1 June 1996	21 April 1997 ♣	b. 18 May 1933	Janata Dal	Hassan District, Karnataka
13	Inder Kumar Gujral		21 April 1997	19 March 1998	b. 4 December 1919	Janata Dal	Jhelum, Punjab
11	Atal Bihari Vajpayee		19 March 1998 ♥	22 May 2004	b. 25 December, 1924	Bharatiya Janata Party	Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh
14	Manmohan Singh		22 May 2004	Incumbent	b. 26 September, 1932	Indian National Congress	Gah, Punjab

• * Interim - It is debatable whether Mr. Gulzari Lal Nanda was a Prime Minister or an Acting Prime Minister. The constitution does not have a position of acting Prime Minister. Mr. Nanda was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India. In contrast, the constitution provides for an acting President who discharges the duties of a President. Hence, constitutional experts and historians now agree that Mr. Nanda is the second Prime Minister of India.
• ^♥ Returned to Office
• ^â™  Assassinated or Died in Office
• ^♣ Resigned
• ^♦ Dismissed by President following a no-confidence motion

See also

• Presidents of India
• Deputy Prime Minister of India

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia