Deputy Prime Minister of India
| Deputy Prime Minister of India | |
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Incumbent Vacant since 22 May 2004 | |
| Member of | Parliament of India Union Council of Ministers |
| Nominator | Prime Minister of India |
| Appointer | President of India |
| Inaugural holder | Vallabhbhai Patel (1947–1950) |
| Formation | 15 August 1947 |
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The Deputy Prime Minister of India is the deputy to the Prime minister of India, who is head of the government of India. The deputy prime minister is the second highest ranking member of the Union Council of Ministers.[1] A deputy prime minister usually also holds a cabinet portfolio such as the home minister, defence 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 office has since been only intermittently occupied, having been occupied for a little more than 11 years out of the 73 years since its inception. The first Deputy Prime Minister of India was Vallabhbhai Patel, who was also home minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet. 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.
On multiple occasions, proposals have arisen to make the post permanent, but without result. The same goes for the post of deputy chief minister at the state level.
History[edit]
The first deputy prime minister was Vallabhbhai Patel, who was also home minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet. He occupied the post for 3 years until his death in 1950. The post was vacant until Morarji Desai became the second deputy prime minister in 1967.
L. K. Advani served as the seventh deputy prime minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet from 2002 to 2004. The post has been vacant since 2004.
List of Deputy Prime Ministers of India[edit]
Keys
| No. | Portrait | Officeholder (Portfolio) |
Term of office | Political party (Alliance) |
Prime Minister | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (1875–1950) (Minister of Home Affairs) |
15 August 1947 | 15 December 1950 | 3 years, 122 days | Indian National Congress | Jawaharlal Nehru | ||
| Vacant (15 December 1950 – 21 March 1967) | |||||||||
| 2 | 
|
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (1896–1995) (Minister of Finance) |
21 March 1967 | 6 December 1969 | 2 years, 260 days | Indian National Congress | Indira Gandhi | ||
| Vacant (6 December 1969 – 24 January 1979) | |||||||||
| 3 | 
|
Chaudhary Charan Singh (1902–1987) (Minister of Finance) |
24 January 1979 [2] | 16 July 1979 | 173 days | Janata Party | Morarji Desai | ||
| 4 | 
|
Jagjivan Ram (1908–1986) (Minister of Defence) |
24 January 1979 [3] | 28 July 1979 | 185 days | Janata Party | |||
| 5 | 
|
Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan (1913–1984) (Minister of Home Affairs) |
28 July 1979 | 14 January 1980 | 170 days | Indian National Congress (Urs) | Charan Singh | ||
| Vacant (14 January 1980 – 2 December 1989) | |||||||||
| 6 | 
|
Chaudhary Devi Lal (1915–2001) (Minister of Agriculture) |
2 December 1989 | 1 August 1990 | 242 days | Janata Dal (National Front) |
Vishwanath Pratap Singh | ||
| 10 November 1990 | 21 June 1991 | 223 days | Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) | Chandra Shekhar | |||||
| Vacant (21 June 1991 – 5 February 2002) | |||||||||
| 7 | 
|
Lal Krishna Advani (1927–) (Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions) |
5 February 2002 | 22 May 2004 | 2 years, 107 days | Bharatiya Janata Party (National Democratic Alliance) |
Atal Bihari Vajpayee | ||
| Vacant (Since 22 May 2004) | |||||||||
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Rajendran, S. (2012-07-13). "Of Deputy Chief Ministers and the Constitution". The Hindu. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
- ^ "COUNCIL OF MINISTERS" (PDF).
- ^ "COUNCIL OF MINISTERS" (PDF).
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