The deputy prime minister of India (IAST: ), although not a Constitutional post, is the second-highest ranking minister of the Union in the executive branch of the Government of India and is a senior member of the Union Council of Ministers. The office holder also deputizes for the prime minister in their absence.
The sitting deputy prime minister ranks fifth in the Order of Precedence of India and is nominated by prime minister and appointed by the president of India.
The longest-serving deputy prime minister was the first deputy prime minister, Vallabhbhai Patel, whose tenure lasted 3 years and 122 days. His premiership was followed by Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Jagjivan Ram, Yashwantrao Chavan, Devi Lal and L.K. Advani.
The office has since been only intermittently occupied, having been occupied for a little more than 10 years out of the 75 years since its inception. Since 1950 India has had 7 deputy prime ministers, of which none having at least one full term.
Origins and history India follows a parliamentary system in which the deputy prime minister is the presiding deputy head of the government and deputy chief of the executive of the government. The deputy prime minister must become a member of parliament within six months of beginning their tenure, if they are not one already.
1947–1950 Since 1947, there have been 7 different deputy prime ministers. The first was Vallabhbhai Patel of the Indian National Congress party, who was sworn in on 15 August 1947, when India gained independence from the British Raj. Serving until his death in December 1950, Patel remains India's longest-serving deputy prime minister.
1967–1969 After Patel, the post was vacant until Morarji Desai became the second deputy prime minister in 1967 and has the second-longest tenure. Morarji Desai and Charan Singh were the deputy prime ministers who later became Prime Minister of India.
After Desai, the post was vacant again for almost 10 years.
1979–1980 In less than a year there were 3 different deputy prime ministers, Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram became deputy prime ministers simultaneously under one ministry, and they were consecutively followed by Yashwantrao Chavan without any break, who became deputy prime minister in a different ministry.
After Chavan, the post was vacant again for almost 10 years.
1989–1991 Devi Lal is the only deputy prime minister to represent both parties in the same post. The post was vacant for 100 days between the two terms of Devi Lal.
After Lal, the post was vacant again for more than 11 years.
2002–2004 Lal Krishna Advani was the seventh person to serve as the deputy prime minister of India, until the post became vacant.
List
Key Resigned Died in office Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term
(1) (2) (1) (1) (2) (1) PortraitName(borndied)ConstituencyTerm of officeOther ministerial offices held Political party Ministry Prime Minister Vallabhbhai Patel15 August 19471950 Indian National CongressNehru I Jawaharlal Nehru , Morarji Desai19671969 Indian National CongressIndira II Indira Gandhi Charan Singh19791979 Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai Jagjivan Ram19791979 Yashwantrao Chavan19791980 Indian National Congress (Urs)Charan Charan Singh Devi Lal19891990 Janata Dal Singh V. P. Singh Devi Lal19901991 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Shekhar Chandra Shekhar Lal Krishna Advani20022004 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee III Atal Bihari Vajpayee
List of deputy prime ministers by length of term
No.NamePartyLength of termLongest continuous termTotal years of deputy prime ministership1Vallabhbhai PatelINC3 years, 122 days2Morarji Desai2 years, 128 days3Lal Krishna AdvaniBJP1 year, 328 days4Devi LalJDSJP(R)242 days1 year, 100 days5Jagjivan RamJP185 days6Charan Singh173 days7Yashwantrao ChavanINC(U)170 days
Timeline
Lifespan of deputy prime ministers
List by party
+Political parties by total timespan of their member holding Deputy Prime Minister's Office () Political party Number of Deputy Prime ministers Total days of holding DPMO1Indian National Congress22077 days2Bharatiya Janata Party1693 days3Janata Dal1242 days4Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)1223 days5Janata Party2185 days6Indian National Congress (Urs)1170 days
Parties by total duration (in days) of holding Deputy Prime Minister's Office
See also President of India List of presidents of India Vice President of India List of vice presidents of India Prime Minister of India List of prime ministers of India
Notes
References