<P> Since 1947, India has had fourteen Prime Ministers, fifteen including Gulzarilal Nanda who twice acted in the role . The first was Jawaharlal Nehru of the Indian National Congress party, who was sworn - in on 15 August 1947, when India gained independence from the British . Serving until his death in May 1964, Nehru remains India's longest - serving prime minister . He was succeeded by fellow Congressman Lal Bahadur Shastri, whose 19 - month term also ended in death . Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter, succeeded Shastri in 1966 to become the country's first woman premier . Eleven years later, she was voted out of power in favour of the Janata Party, whose leader Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress prime minister . After he resigned in 1979, his former deputy Charan Singh briefly held office until Indira Gandhi was voted back six months later . Indira Gandhi's second stint as Prime Minister ended five years later on the morning of 31 October 1984, when she was gunned down by her own bodyguards . That evening, her son Rajiv Gandhi was sworn - in as India's youngest premier, and the third from his family . Thus far, members of Nehru--Gandhi dynasty have been Prime Minister for a total of 37 years and 303 days . </P> <P> Rajiv's five - year term ended with his former cabinet colleague, V.P. Singh of the Janata Dal, forming the year - long National Front coalition government in 1989 . A six - month interlude under Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar followed, after which the Congress party returned to power, forming the government under P.V. Narasimha Rao in June 1991 . Rao's five - year term was succeeded by four short - lived governments--the Bharatiya Janata Party's Atal Bihari Vajpayee for 13 days in 1996, a year each under United Front prime ministers H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral, and Vajpayee again for 19 months in 1998--99 . After Vajpayee was sworn - in for the third time, in 1999, he managed to lead his National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to a full five - year term, the first non-Congressman to do so . Vajpayee was succeeded by Congressman Manmohan Singh, the first Sikh premier, whose United Progressive Alliance government was in office for 10 years between 2004 and 2014 . The incumbent Prime Minister of India is Narendra Modi who has headed the BJP - led NDA government since 26 May 2014 which is India's first non-Congress single party majority government . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> <Dl> <Dt> Colour key for party of the prime ministers </Dt> </Dl> <Ul> <Li> Bharatiya Janata Party </Li> <Li> Indian National Congress designated Indian National Congress (I) 1977--1996 </Li> <Li> Janata Dal </Li> <Li> Janata Party </Li> <Li> Janata Party (Secular) </Li> <Li> Samajwadi Janata Party </Li> </Ul> </Td> <Td> <Dl> <Dt> Other key </Dt> </Dl> <Ul> <Li> No: Incumbent number </Li> <Li> Assassinated or died in office </Li> <Li> Returned to office after a previous term </Li> <Li> Resigned </Li> <Li> Resigned following a no - confidence motion </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> <Dl> <Dt> Colour key for party of the prime ministers </Dt> </Dl> <Ul> <Li> Bharatiya Janata Party </Li> <Li> Indian National Congress designated Indian National Congress (I) 1977--1996 </Li> <Li> Janata Dal </Li> <Li> Janata Party </Li> <Li> Janata Party (Secular) </Li> <Li> Samajwadi Janata Party </Li> </Ul> </Td> <Td> <Dl> <Dt> Other key </Dt> </Dl> <Ul> <Li> No: Incumbent number </Li> <Li> Assassinated or died in office </Li> <Li> Returned to office after a previous term </Li> <Li> Resigned </Li> <Li> Resigned following a no - confidence motion </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr>

Prime ministers of india and their ruling period