Timeline
79 years at a glance
Every stint in office on one scale, from independence to today. Bar length is time in office; colour is party.
Longest
6,130 days
Jawaharlal Nehru, 1947–1964
Shortest
26 days
Gulzarilal Nanda, 1964, 1966 (2 stints)
Prime ministers by year
- Congress
- BJP
- Janata Party
- Janata Party (Secular)
- Janata Dal
- Samajwadi Janata Party
Founding years 1947–1966
- Jawaharlal Nehru 1947–1964 1947–1964, Indian National Congress, 6,130 days
- Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) 1964 1964, Indian National Congress, 13 days
- Lal Bahadur Shastri 1964–1966 1964–1966, Indian National Congress, 581 days
- Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) 1966 1966, Indian National Congress, 13 days
Indira & the Janata years 1966–1984
- Indira Gandhi 1966–1977 1966–1977, Indian National Congress, 4,077 days
- Morarji Desai 1977–1979 1977–1979, Janata Party, 856 days
- Charan Singh 1979–1980 1979–1980, Janata Party (Secular), 170 days
- Indira Gandhi 1980–1984 1980–1984, Indian National Congress, 1,752 days
Rajiv to the coalitions 1984–1998
- Rajiv Gandhi 1984–1989 1984–1989, Indian National Congress, 1,858 days
- V. P. Singh 1989–1990 1989–1990, Janata Dal, 343 days
- Chandra Shekhar 1990–1991 1990–1991, Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya), 223 days
- P. V. Narasimha Rao 1991–1996 1991–1996, Indian National Congress, 1,791 days
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee 1996 1996, Bharatiya Janata Party, 16 days
- H. D. Deve Gowda 1996–1997 1996–1997, Janata Dal, 324 days
- Inder Kumar Gujral 1997–1998 1997–1998, Janata Dal, 332 days