Deputy Prime Minister of India

Deputy Prime Minister of India (Upa Pradhan Mantri)
Emblem of India
Incumbent Vacant
Appointer	President on the advice of the Prime Minister
Inaugural holder	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Formation	15 August 1947

The Deputy Prime Minister of India is a member of the Union Cabinet in the Government of India. Not technically a constitutional office, it seldom carries any specific powers. A deputy prime minister usually also holds a key cabinet portfolio such as home minister or finance minister. In the parliamentary system of government, the prime minister is treated as the "first among equals" in the cabinet; the position of deputy prime minister is used to bring political stability and strength within a coalition government or in times of national emergency, when a proper chain of command is necessary.

The first Deputy Prime Minister of India was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was also home minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet. The office has since been only intermittently occupied. The seventh and last deputy prime minister was L. K. Advani, who took on the role in addition to his home ministership from 2002 to 2004 in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government. The current government does not have a Deputy Prime Minister.

List of Deputy Prime Ministers of India

No		Portrait	Term of office		Political party (Alliance)	Prime Minister
1	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel		15 August 1947	15 December 1950	Indian National Congress	Jawaharlal Nehru
2	Morarji Desai		21 March 1967	6 December 1969	Indian National Congress	Indira Gandhi
3	Charan Singh		24 March 1977	28 July 1979	Janata Party	Morarji Desai
4	Jagjivan Ram		24 March 1977	28 July 1979	Janata Party	Morarji Desai
5	Yashwantrao Chavan		28 July 1979	14 January 1980	Congress (Urs)	Charan Singh
6	Chaudhary Devi Lal		2 December 1989	21 June 1991	Janata Dal (National Front)	V. P. Singh Chandra Shekhar
7	L. K. Advani		29 June 2002	22 May 2004	Bharatiya Janata Party (National Democratic Alliance)	Atal Bihari Vajpayee