Deputy Prime Minister of India

The deputy prime minister of India (IAST: Bhārat Ke Upapradhānamantrī), 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 deputises for the prime minister in their absence.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of India
Bhārat Ke Upapradhānamantrī
State Emblem of India
Flag of India
Incumbent Vacant since 23 May 2004
Government of India
Style	The Honourable (formal) His Excellency (diplomatic) Mr. Deputy Prime Minister (informal)
Type	Deputy Head of government
Status	Deputy Leader of the Executive
Member of	Parliament of India Union Council of Ministers
Reports to	President of India Vice President of India Prime Minister of India Parliament of India
Nominator	Prime Minister of India
Appointer	President of India
Term length	At the pleasure of the president Lok Sabha term is 5 years unless dissolved sooner No term limits specified
Constituting instrument	Not mentioned in the Constitution of India
Formation	15 August 1947; 78 years, 127 days ago
First holder	Vallabhbhai Patel
Final holder	L. K. Advani

The sitting deputy prime minister ranks fourth 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

• ^RES Resigned
• ^† Died in office
• ^§ Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term

BJP (1)   INC (2)   INC(U) (1)    JD (1)   JP (2)   SJP(R) (1)
Portrait		Name (born – died) Constituency	Term of office Duration in years and days		Other ministerial offices held	Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
		Vallabhbhai Patel (1875–1950) Bombay (Constituent Assembly)	15 August 1947	15 December 1950^[†]	Minister of Home Affairs and States Minister of Information and Broadcasting (1947–1949)	Indian National Congress	Nehru I	Jawaharlal Nehru
			3 years, 122 days
Position not in use (15 December 1950 – 12 March 1967) – 16 years, 87 days,
		Morarji Desai (1896–1995) MP for Surat	13 March 1967	19 July 1969 ^[RES]	Minister of Finance (1967–1969)	Indian National Congress	Indira II	Indira Gandhi
			2 years, 128 days
Position not in use (20 July 1969 – 23 January 1979)  – 9 years, 187 days
		Charan Singh (1902–1987) MP for Baghpat	24 January 1979	16 July 1979 ^[RES]	Minister of Finance	Janata Party	Desai	Morarji Desai
			173 days
		Jagjivan Ram (1908–1986) MP for Sasaram	24 January 1979	28 July 1979 ^[RES]	Minister of Defence
			185 days
		Yashwantrao Chavan (1913–1984) MP for Satara	28 July 1979	14 January 1980	Minister of Home Affairs	Indian National Congress (Urs)	Charan	Charan Singh
			170 days
Position not in use (14 January 1980 – 1 December 1989)  – 9 years, 321 days
		Devi Lal (1915–2001) MP for Sikar	2 December 1989	1 August 1990 ^[RES]	Minister of Agriculture	Janata Dal	Singh	V. P. Singh
			242 days
Position not in use (1 August 1990 – 9 November 1990)  – 100 days
		Devi Lal (1915–2001) MP for Sikar	10 November 1990	21 June 1991 ^[RES]	Minister of Agriculture (1990–1991) Minister of Tourism (1990–1991)	Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)	Shekhar	Chandra Shekhar
			223 days
Position not in use (22 June 1991 – 28 June 2002) – 11 years, 6 days
		Lal Krishna Advani (born 1927) MP for Gandhinagar	29 June 2002	22 May 2004	Minister of Home Affairs Minister of Coal and Mines (2002) Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (2003–2004)	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee III	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
			1 year, 328 days
Position not in use (22 May 2004 – present) – 21 years, 212 days

List of deputy prime ministers by length of term

No.	Name	Party				Length of term
						Longest continuous term	Total years of deputy prime ministership
1	Vallabhbhai Patel		INC			3 years, 122 days
2	Morarji Desai					2 years, 128 days
3	Lal Krishna Advani		BJP			1 year, 328 days
4	Devi Lal		JD		SJP(R)	242 days	1 year, 100 days
5	Jagjivan Ram		JP			185 days
6	Charan Singh					173 days
7	Yashwantrao Chavan		INC(U)			170 days

Timeline

Lifespan of deputy prime ministers

List by party

1. Indian National Congress (57.9%)
2. Bharatiya Janata Party (19.3%)
3. Janata Dal (6.74%)
4. Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) (6.21%)
5. Janata Party (5.15%)
6. Indian National Congress (Urs) (4.74%)