POLITICAL SCIENCE

PROJECT
Presidents and Prime
Ministers of India since 1947
till date :-

BY : KOMAL KANWAL
CLASS : XI
SECTION : D

PRIME MINISTERS

1.
PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU ( from
15th August 1947 to 27th May 1964)
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime
Minister of Independent India, who held charge
for more than 17 years continuously.
Jawaharlal Nehru was born in Allahabad on 14th
November 1889. He was one of the foundermembers of the Indian National Congress.
Jawaharlal Nehru implemented his socialist vision
by introducing a modified Indian version of
planning and control over the economy. Creating
the Planning commission of India, Nehru drew up

the first Five-Year Plan in 1951, which charted

the governments investments in industries and
agriculture. Nehru launched programmes to build
irrigation canals, dams and spread the use of
fertilizers to increase the agricultural production.
Nehrus government succeeded in extending
water and electricity supply, health care, roads
and infrastructure to a large degree of Indias
vast population.

2.
GULZARI LAL NANDA(from 27th
May,1964 to 9th June, 1964)
Gulzari Lal Nanda was a gandhian to the core
and was a temporary Prime Minister on two
occasions after the sudden death of Pt. Nehru,
for 14 days, and again after the sudden demise

of Lal Bahadur Shastri(from 11th January to 24th

January, 1966) again for a period of 14 days.
On both occasions he acted for slightly less than
a month, his term ending upon the election of a
new leader of the Indian National Congress.
Born in Sialkot, July 4, 1898 and died on January
15, 1998, as a centenarian. He was a leading
member in the labour movement. He had also
conferred the Bharat Ratna award in the year
1997.

3. LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI (from 9th June,

1964 to 11th January, 1966)

Born in Moghalsarai, October 2, 1904, died in
Tashkent(USSR) on January 11, 1966, while
negotiating peace talks with Pakistan. He had
conferred Bharat Ratna in 1966.
As a minister for transport and police, he was
the first to women conductors and ordered that
police use jets of water instead of lathis to
avoid unruly crowds. Shastri worked by his
natural traits to obtain agreements, but in his
short tenure was ineffective in dealing with the
economic crisis and the food shortage in the
country.
He was respected a lot and used this advantage
in pushing the Green Revolution in India which
directly led to India becoming a food surplus
nation. During the 22-days war with Pakistan, Lal
Bahadur Shastri created the slogan of Jai Jawan,
Jai Kisan, underlining the need to boost Indias
food production.

4. INDIRA GANDHI (24th

January, 1966 to 24th
march, 1977 & again from
14th January,1984 to 31st
October, 1984)
Indira Gandhi was the first Woman
Prime Minister of India. She held office for a
total of 5,831 days.
Abolition of Privy Purse, nationalization of banks,
birth of Bangladesh are some of her
achievements. Indira Gandhi was Minister for
Information and Broadcasting in Shastris tenure.
She was the person to declare emergency in the
country; by 1973 Delhi and north India were
rocked by demonstrations angry at high price
rise, the poor state of economy, uncontrolled
corruption, and poor standards of living. In June
1975, the High Court of Allahabad found her
guilty of using illegal practices and ordered her
to vacate her seat.
She died on Oct. 31, 1984. Her own Sikh
bodyguard murdered her as she had ordered
attack on the Golden Temple.

5.
MORARJI DESAI (from 24th March,
1977 to 28th July, 1979)
The first non-congress Prime Minister since
independence, Morarji Desai headed the Janata
Party Government for 587 days. He was one of
those rare Gandhians.
Born on 29th February, 1896 in Bahadesli,
Gujarat; a centenarian, he passed away on 10th
April, 1995. He had also conferred Bharat Ratna
in 1991.

During his time, Desai greatly improved relations

with Pakistan and Zia-ul-Haq. Diplomatic relations
with china were also re- established with China.
His greatest contribution was that his
government renewed peoples faith in democracy.
His government undid many amendments made
to the constitution during emergency and made
it difficult for any future government to impose
National Emergency.

6.
CHARAN SINGH (from 28th July, 1979
to 14th January, 1980)
A kisan Prime Minister from Uttar Pradesh, he
never faced Parliament, although he was in
office for 171 days. Within days of assuming
office, one of the supporting parties withdrew
support, after which he continued as a caretaker
PM, till fresh elections were held.

Charan Singh was of the opinion that

cooperative farms would not succeed in India.
Charans political career suffered due to his
open criticism of Nehrus economic policies. He
also mentioned that the Indian labour laws had
to be refined if India were to become
competitive in world.he also opened high level
diplomatic relations with Israel.

7.
RAJIV GANDHI (from 31st October,
1984 to 1st December, 1989)
Rajiv Gandhi worked as a professional pilot for
Indian Airlines before coming into politics. The
youngest PM so far, he assumed office at the
age of 41.

In the 1985 elections, he led his party to a big

win. He was born in Bombay on August 20,
1944; died in Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991,
at the hands of a human bomb.
He began demolishing the License raj,
government quotes, tax and permitted
regulations on economic activity, modernized the
telecommunications industry, education system,
expanded science and technology and improved
relations with United States.
The Bofors scandal broke his honest image and
resulted in a major defeat for his party in the
1989 elections.

8.
V.P SINGH (from 2nd December, 1989
to 10th November, 1990)
V.P Singh of Janata Dal became the Prime
Minister in 1989. He was born in Allahabad on
June 25, 1931.
Singh wished to move nationally on social justice
related issues, which would in turn combine the
caste coalition that supported the Janata Dal in
North India, and accordingly decided to
implement the recommendations of Mandal
Commission which suggested that a fixed quota
for all jobs in the public sector be reserved for
the disadvantaged Other Backward Classes. This
decision led to widespread protests among the
youth in urban areas.

9.
CHANDRA SHEKHAR (from 10th
November, 1990 to 21st June, 1991)
The Young Turk (reformist) became Prime
Minister and continued for 224 days. Born in
village Ibrahimpatti in Ballia District, UP on July
1st, 1927.
Holding the office for only seven months,
Shekhar resigned on March 6, 1991 after the
Congress party withdrew support to him.
Chandra Shekhar was known for abiding by the
Parliamentary rules and was honoured with the
Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 1995.
Today, Shekhar is a member of Indias Lower
House of Parliament. He now leads Samajwadi
Party.

P.V NARSIMHA RAO (from 21st June,

1991 to 10th May,1996)

10.

The first ever from south to hold this office, he

ruled for 5 years despite a hung Parliament
initially.
Rao decided that India, which in 1991 was on
the verge of bankruptcy would benefit from
Economic Liberation Programme. Rao is also
called Father of Indian Economic Reforms.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir faced increased
terrorist activities during Raos tenure

A.B VAJPAYEE (from 16th May to 1st

June, 1996 & again from 19th March,
1998 to 13th May, 2004)

11.

The first bachelor Prime Minister of India, he

was at the office only for 16 days, creating a
record for shortest spell in office. He assumed
charge for the second time. He took the Oath
on October 13, 1999 after General Elections.
He was a passionate champion of womens
empowerment and social equality. Vajpayee
believes in a forward looking, forward moving
India, a strong and wealthy nation confident of
its rightful place in the good will of nations.
He stands for an India secured in 5000 years of
development history, ever modernizing, renewing
and ever-energizing itself to meet the challenges
of the next 1000 years. Indias second highest
civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan, was
conferred upon him.

H.D DEVE GODWA (from 1st June,

1996 to 21st April, 1997)

12.

H.D Deve was in office for only 11 months.

When the Congress party was defeated in the
1996 General Elections, Deve Godwa became
Prime Minister of a United Front coalition
government after Indian nationalists failed to
form a government. He is widely respected and
regarded for his struggle towards the cause of
farming community and is known as son of
soil.

I.K GUJRAL (from 21st April, 1997 to

28th November, 1997)

13.

Indra Kumar Gujral was born on December 4,

1919, in Jhelum. Prime Minister Gujral continued
in the office for over 11 months, including 3
months as caretaker PM.
During this time he attempted to improve
relations with Pakistan, reform the ageing
institutions of government and promote progrowth economic policies to bring the country
out of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which had
left it stagnant.
But the lawless, corrupt and unstable coalition
politics were too big a problem. One of the
most controversial decisions of his government
was declaration of Presidents rule in Uttar
Pradesh.

DR. MANMOHAN SINGH (from 22nd

May, 2004 to 25th May, 2014)

14.

Dr. Manmohan Singh was born on 26th

September, 1932,
in Gah into a Kohli
family. A globally renowned economist and former
Finance Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh assumed
charge on 22nd May, 2004.
Sonia Gandhi was elected leader of the Congress
Parliamentary Party and was expected to
become the PM. In an unexpected move, she
declined to accept the post and instead
nominated Singh. He was the 17th Prime Minister
of India. Singh was the first Sikh to become the
PM. He is one of the most qualified and
influential figures in Indias recent history,
because of the economic liberation he started in
1991.

15. NARENDRA MODI (from 26th May,

2014 till present)
Narendra Damodardas Modi, the current Prime
Minister of India, was born on September 17,
1950. Modi, a leader of Bhartiya Janata Party,
was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to
2014 and is the Member of Parliament from
Varanasi. He led the BJP in 2014 General
Elections, which gave the party a majority in the
Lok Sabha a first for any party since 1984.
On March 31, 2013, Modi was appointed to the
BJP Parliamentary board and at the partys 9
June executive meeting he was appointed chair
of the BJPs central elction campaign committee
for the 2014 General Elections. Modi was a
candidate in two constituencies : Varanasi and
Vadodara. During the campaign, he pledged to

speed governments decision making and remove

bureaucratic hurdles which slowed development.
BJP-led NDA won the elections overall and INC
faced its worst defeat ever. Modi, who was
unanimously elected leader of the BJP was
appointed Prime Minister.
Modi invited the leaders of the SAARC countries
to his to his swearing-in as Prime Minister to
strengthen ties with its member countries.
Continuing his efforts to promote close relations
with neighbouring countries, his first foreign visit
as a Prime Minister was to Bhutan. Modi visited
Nepal on 8th August, 2014, and also began a 5day trip to Japan on 30th August.
On 17th September, Chinise President Xi Jinping
arrived in India; financial memoranda of
understanding and cooperation agreements
between the countries were signed. The PM had
a successful visit to United States in September,
which led to an improvement in the relations
between India and USA. In a 27th September
address to the United Nations General Assembly,
Modi asked for the adoption of 21st June as
International Yoga Day.

PRESIDENTS :-

1. DR. RAJENDRA PRASAD (from 26th

January, 1950 to 12th May, 1962)
Dr. Rajendra Prasad took charge as the
President of Independent and Republic India on
26th January, 1950, being selected by the
Committee of Indian Constitution. Dr. Rajendra
Prasad was the President of India for two
consecutive terms being the First and the
Second President of India.
In the Third Presidential election, Prasad
expressed his decision to retire from public life
and declined the offer to continue as the Third
President of India.
Dr. Prasad was independent and unwilling to
allow the Prime Minister or the party to seize
his constitutional rights. However, following the
conflict over the passing of the Hindu Code Bill,
he restrained his stand. Prasad set several
important rules for future Presidents to follow.

2. SARVAPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN (from

1962 to 1967)
S. Radhakrishnan was borb on 5th September,
1888. He was a philosopher and statesman. He
became the Vice President of India in 1952
and was elected as President in 1962.
Radhakrishnan was one of the first scholars of
comparative religion and philosophy in his time;
he built a bridge between Eastern and Western
thoughts showing each to be understandable
within the terms of the other. Radhakrishnan
introduced Western ideas into Indian philosophy
and was the first scholar of importance to
provide a comprehensive exegesis of Indias
religious and philosophical literature to English
speaking people.

He died on April 17, 1975. Radhakrishnans

birthday is celebrated every year as teachers
day in India in his honour.

3. ZAKIR HUSSAIN (from 13th May,

1967 to 3rd May, 1969)
Zakir Hussain was born on February 8, 1897 in
Hyderabad. He was the third President of India

and served till his death in 1969. He was the

first elected Muslim President of India.
After serving asa Governer of Bihar from 1957
to 1962, Zakir Hussain became the Vice
President from 1962 to 1967. In his inaugural
speech, he said that the whole of India is his
home and its entire people were his family.

4. VARAHAGIRI VENKATA GIRI (from 3rd

May, 1969 to 20th July, 1969)
Varahagiri Venkata Giri was born on August 10,
1894. He was appointed as the Acting
President of India after the death of Zakir

Hussain but he resigned shortly after a few

months and decided to participate in the
Presidential Elections.
Giri received Indias highest civilian award, the
Bharat Ratna in 1975 for his contributions in
the public affairs. He was a prolific writer and
a good orator.

5. MUHAMMAD HIDAYAT ULLAH (from

20th July, 1969 to 24th August, 1969)
Muhammad Hidayat Ullah was born on
December 17, 1905. He served as Acting
President of India until Varahagiri was elected
as the President of India. He was the second
Muslim to hold the post.he was succeeded by
the previous President Varahagiri Venkata Giri.

Hidayat was the first Muslim Chief Justice of

India from January 1968 to February 1970. He
was also the Vice President of India from
August 1979 to August 1984. A National Law
University has been established in his name at
Jodhpur.

6. FAKHRUDDIN ALI AHMED (from 24th

August, 1974 to 11th February, 1977)
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was born on May 13,
1905. He was educated at St. Stephens College
and St. Catharines College, Cambridge and
subsequently became an active member of the
Congress party.
Ahmed was chosen as the President by the
then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974,
becoming the third Muslim President.

He would later use his constitutional authority

as head of state to allow Indira Gandhi to rule
by decree once emergency rule was proclaimed
in 1975. Fakhruddin was the second Indian
President to die in office.

7. BASAPPA DANAPPA JATTI (from 11th

February, 1977 to 25th July, 1977)
Basappa Danappa Jatti was sworn in as the
Acting President after the death of Fakhruddin
Ali on 11th February, 1977. He was born on
September 10, 1912.
Jatti graduated as a lawyer from Sykes Law
college, Kolhapur and became a leader in
Jamakhandi. After the 1953 General Elections,
he was appointed Minister of Health and Labour

of the then Bombay(now Mumbai) Government.

Re-elected from the Jamakhandi constituency in
the third general elections, Jatti was appointed
Finanace Minister on July 2, 1962.

8. NEELAM SANJEEVA REDDY (from 25th

July, 1977 to 25th July, 1982)
Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy was the only
individual elected President unopposed. He
was born on 19th May, 1913. He was also
Union Minister of Transport, Civil Aviation,
Shipping and Tourism from January 1966 to
March 1967 in the Cabinet.
Reddy was elected to the Lok Sabha from
Hindupur Constituency in Andhra Pradesh. He

was elected Speaker of Lok Sabha on March

17, 1967, where he won unprecedented acclaim
and appreciation.

9. GIANI ZAIL SINGH (from 25th July,

1982 to 25th July, 1987)
Giani Zail Singh was born in Punjab on May 5,
1916. He was the President of India from 19821987.
He was the first Sikh to hold Indias highest
public office and honor. He was elected to this
highest public post on July 15, 1982.
He was criticized for his dominating attitude
towards the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. His

relations with the next PM, Rajiv Gandhi, was

rocky at the best.

10. R. VENKATARAMAN (from 25th July,

1987 to 25th July, 1992)
R. Venkataraman was born on December 4,
1910 was the President of Republic of India.
Before his election as the President, he served
nearly 4 years as the Vice-President.
Although re-elected to Parliament in 1957,
Venkataraman resigned his seat in Lok Sabha
to join the State Government of Madras as a
Minister. There, he held portfolios of Industries,

Labour, Cooperation, Power, Transport and

Commercial Taxes from 1957 to 1967. During
this time, he was also the Leader of the Upper
House, namely, the Madras Legislative Council.
Venkataraman died at the Army Research and
Referral Hospital, new delhi on 27th January,
2009.

11. SHANKAR DAYAL SHARMA (from 25th

July, 1992 to 25th july, 1997)
Shankar Dayal Sharma was born on August 19,
1918. Sharma served as Vice-President till 1992,
when he was elected President.

During his 5-year term,he was active in

ceremonial matters and was in charge of
dismissing and appointing governors. During his
last year as President, it was his responsibility
to swear in 3 prime ministers.

12. K.R NARAYANAN (from 25th July,

1997 to 25th July, 2002)
K.R Narayanan was the first Malayali and the
first Dalit to have been Indian President. He
was born on 20th October, 1920.
K.R Narayanan was elected as President on 17th
July, 1997 with 95% of the votes in the
Electoral College, from the Presidential Poll. This
is the only presidential election to have been
held with a minority government holding power
at the centre.

13. DR. APJ ABDUL KALAM (from 25th

July, 2002 to 25th July, 2007)
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is an Indian scientist and
administrator. He was born on october 15,
1931, Tamil Nadu, India.
A notable scientist and engineer, he is often
referred to as the Missile Man of India for his
work and is considered a leading progressive,
mentor, innovator and visionary in India.

14. PRATIBHA PATIL (from 25th July,

2007 to 25th July, 2012)
Pratibha Devisingh Patil was the first and only
Indian President till date. She was also the first
Maharashtrian to hold this post. The Chief
Justice of India, K.G Balakrishnan had sworn her
as President of India on July 25, 2007.
Pratibha obtained her Masters degree in
Political Science and Economics from Moolijee
Jetha College, Jalgaon. Patil was an elected
Member of Parliament in the tenth Lok Sabha
and represented the Amravati constituency.
Pratibha Patil is a member of INC and the first
female governor of Rajasthan. She retired from
the Presidents post in July, 2012.

15. PRANAB MUKHERJEE (from 25th July,

2012 to present)
Pranab Kumar Mukherjee is the current
President of India. He was appointed to the
post in July, 2012. He was amongst the senior
members of the Cabinet Committees on Political
Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, Economic Affairs,
Security, Infrastructure etc.
Pranab also led the assembly of Ministers that
probes the assumed corruption of the earlier
National Democratic Alliance Government.