Prime Ministers of India (1947-2019) – Facts,Salary, Achievements, Interesting Facts

• In 1947, India gained its independence from years of British rule.
• The President of the Republic of India is the head of the state of India and the first citizen. Though the President has such great powers, his role is ceremonial. Actually all the decisions are taken by the Prime Minister and his cabinet.
• As India follows a parliamentary system of government modelled after the Westminster system, the Prime Minister of India is the head of the executive branch of the Government of India.
• He acts as an advisor to the President and is the leader of the Council of Ministers.
• The President appoints the Prime Minister of India and on his advice, appoints the Council of Ministers.
• The Prime Minister can be a member of either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha.

Prime Ministers of India

Election

• • The Constitution states that the President of India should appoint the leader of the party or alliance which is in majority in the Lok Sabha as the Prime Minister of India.
  • In case no party or alliance enjoys majority, the President appoints the leader of the largest party or alliance as the Prime Minister. But he has to win the confidence vote in the Lower House of the Parliament as early as possible.
  • A member of either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha can be appointed as the Prime Minister. If he is not a member of either House of the Parliament then he has to be elected to either House within six months of his appointment.
  • As the Prime Minister, he is the Leader of the House of which he is a member.

Term

• • Prime Minister does not have a fixed tenure.
  • The full term of the Prime Minister is 5 years, which coincides with the normal life of the Lok Sabha.
  • There are no term limits on the office of the Prime Minister. There is also no official retirement age.

Removal

• • However, the term can end sooner if he loses the vote of confidence in the Lower House.
  • So, it can be said that he remains in power as long as he enjoys the confidence of the Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister can also resign by writing to the President.

Powers and Functions of Prime Minister in India

• • He has the power to suggest the President of India about the removal or resignation of any Minister from his Acting Cabinet.
  • Prime Minister of India has the power to resign anytime and dissolve the Cabinet by suggesting the President of India
  • The Prime Minister is also the link between the cabinet and the Parliament. He is the chief spokesperson of the government in the Parliament.
  • He can also suggest the President to dissolve the Lower house of the Parliament of India and to organize fresh elections.
  • He can reshuffle the cabinet as and when needed and decide the distribution of charge to various ministers.
  • He can suggest the names of the members to be introduced into his/her political party as Ministers.
  • He gives directions and controls the functioning of Ministers in the Cabinet.
  • The Prime Minister represents India in various delegations, high-level meetings and international organisations and also addresses the nation on various occasions of national importance.

Some Important Facts about Prime Minister of India

• • Indian Prime Minister is also known as Pradhan Mantri.
  • The official residence of the Indian Prime Minister is 7, Race Course Road. It is also his main workplace. The official name of the residence is “Panchavati”.
  • According to Article 75 of the Constitution of India, the salary of the Prime Minister is decided by the Parliament and revised from time to time. As on 31 July 2012 the monthly pay and allowances of the Prime Minister of India was Rs. 1,60,000.
  • Some of the amenities provided to the Indian Prime Minister are:
    • • Official residence: 7, Race Course Road or “Panchavati”
      • Personal staff Special Protection Group (SPG) who is responsible for his security
      • Prime Ministerial car (currently BMW 750i)
      • Exclusive aircraft (Air India One)

List of all Prime Ministers of India from 1950 to 2019

Since independence in 1947, India has had 15 different Prime Ministers till now. 

Interesting Facts about Indian Prime Ministers

• • Jawaharlal Nehru was the India’s longest serving Prime Minister who served for more than 16 years. He served as Prime Minister for 4 times –
    • 1^st : From 1947 to 1952 when he was elected with consensus,
    • 2^nd : 1952 to 1957 when he won the General Elections of 1952,
    • 3^rd : 1957 to 1962 in which he again won the general elections of 1957,
    • 4^th : 1962 -1964 in which he won the election of 1962 but died in chair in 1964.
    • He was also called Architect of Modern India. He brought the reform of the Ancient Hindu Civil Code.
  • Gulzari Lal Nanda served twice as the acting Prime Minister of India after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
  • The original name of Lal Bahadur Shastri was Lal Bahadur Varma. He got the surname Shastri (Scholar) after passing out from Kashi Vidya Peeth in Varanasi. He gave slogan of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ during Indo-Pak war of 1965. He also promoted the White Revolution in India.
  • Indira Gandhi was First Female Prime Minister of India. She was also called as “Priyadarshini”. This name was given to her by Rabindranath Tagore.  
  • Indira Gandhi was the first person who belonged to Rajya Sabha during nomination as Prime Minister.
  • Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was the first woman to receive the Bharat Ratna. She was also awarded Bangladesh’s highest civilian award “Bangladesh Swadhinata Samman” in 2011.
  • After a petition filed by Raj Narain, Allahabad High Court cancelled Indira Gandhi’s election as PM in 1975 after finding her guilty of electoral malpractices.
  • Morarji Desai was the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India. He was also the first Prime Minister to resign without completing his full term. He is the only Indian Prime Minister to be conferred upon the Nishaan-e-Pakistan (Pakistan’s highest civilian award). He formally ended the state of emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi.
  • Jai Prakash Narain, the noted socialist and Gandhian Leader played a major role in defeat of Indira Gandhi in 1977 General Elections. He also managed to bring all other parties to a common platform “Janata Party”.
  • Rajiv Gandhi was the youngest Indian Prime Minister; he assumed office at the age of 40. He was Pilot by profession. He was sworn in as Prime Minister the same day when Indira Gandhi was assassinated.
  • V P Singh became Prime Minister after winning the elections of 1989 by combining other parties under United Front but soon lost the confidence motion due to withdrawal of support from BJP.
  • P V Narasimha Rao was the first Prime Minister from South India. He was also the first Congress PM outside of Nehru – Gandhi family. He is also called Father of Economic Reforms of India. He was the only PM who was multilingual and knew and speak 14 languages – Marathi, Hindi, Oriya, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Urdu, English, French, Arabic, Spanish, German and Persian apart from mother tongue Telugu.
  • Only three persons belonged to Rajya Sabha during their nomination for Prime Minister – 1st Indira Gandhi, 2nd H D Devegoda and 3rd I K Gujaral.
  • Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first Non-Congress Party person to rule India for full terms of 5 years. He was the first parliamentarian to give a speech in Hindi to the United Nations General Assembly. In his tenure Pokhran Nuclear Tests were performed.
  • Manmohan Singh was the longest-serving Prime Minister of India who was a member of the Rajya Sabha (2004-2014). He was also the First Sikh Prime Minister of India.
  • Narendra Modi is the first person to gain majority and formed government without support of allies after the general Elections of 1984 (in which Rajiv Gandhi won majority). He is 4^th Prime Minister of India who served two consecutive tenures.

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