List of Indian Prime Minister firsts

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This list outlines the accomplishments and distinctions of various Prime Ministers of India. It encompasses achievements attained both prior to and after their terms in office. To maintain clarity regarding diplomatic protocols, only nations that were independent, sovereign, or recognized by India during the respective Prime Minister's tenure are included in their international visits and engagements.

Jawaharlal Nehru (1947–1964)[edit]

Further information: Jawaharlal Nehru
  • First Prime Minister of independent India.[1]
  • First Prime Minister to die while in office.[2]
  • First Prime Minister to serve over a decade in office.[2]
  • First Prime Minister to be associated with the founding of institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).[3][4]
  • First Prime Minister to visit independent Pakistan, the United States, China, Russia.[5]
  • First Prime Minister of a Kashmiri background.[6][7]

Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964–1966)[edit]

Further information: Lal Bahadur Shastri
  • First Prime Minister born in the 20th-century.[8]
  • First Prime Minister to succeed the position not having to win an election.
  • First Prime Minister to not complete a whole term in office.
  • First Prime Minister to die overseas.[8]
  • First Prime Minister to not use an original surname.[9][10]

Indira Gandhi (1966–1977; 1980–1984)[edit]

Further information: Indira Gandhi
  • First female prime minister.[11][12]
  • First Prime Minister to be the child of a previous prime minister.[11][12]
  • First Prime Minister to be assassinated.[13]
  • First Prime Minister to serve in non-consecutive terms.[14]
  • First Prime Minister to have lost a general election.
  • First Prime Minister to declare a state of emergency in India.[15][16]
  • First Prime Minister to order a nuclear test.[17]
  • First Prime Minister to visit Canada.[18]
  • First Prime Minister to have an airport named after them.[19]

Morarji Desai (1977–1979)[edit]

Further information: Morarji Desai
  • First Prime Minister not from the Indian National Congress.[20]
  • First Prime Minister from the state of Gujarat.[21]
  • First Prime Minister born outside of Uttar Pradesh.[21]
  • First Prime Minister who's mother tongue was not Hindi.
  • First Prime Minister from the Janata Dal.[22]
  • First Prime Minister to defeat a former prime minister in a general election.
  • First Prime Minister to reach ages over 80 and 90.[23]
  • First Prime Minister to resign while in office.[24]
  • First Prime Minister to be awarded Nishan-e-Pakistan, Pakistan's highest civilian award.[25]
  • First Prime Minister to outlive former prime ministers.

Charan Singh (1979–1980)[edit]

Further information: Charan Singh
  • First Prime Minister of royal lineage.[26]
  • First Prime Minister to serve less than a whole year in office.[27]
  • First Prime Minister to hold the position of a chief minister.[28]
  • First Prime Minister of a Haryanvi background.[29]

Rajiv Gandhi (1984–1989)[edit]

Further information: Rajiv Gandhi
  • First Prime Minister to take office in his 40s.[30]
  • First Prime Minister to be both a child and a grandchild of former serving prime ministers.[30]
  • First Prime Minister who succeeded a parental prime minister.
  • First Prime Minister born in Mumbai.[30]
  • First Prime Minister who was not involved in the Indian independence movement.
  • First Prime Minister who was assassinated while not in office.
  • First Prime Minister to die under the age of 50.
  • First Prime Minister of a Parsi background.[30]
  • First Prime Minister to have a foreign spouse.[31]
  • First Prime Minister to introduce computerization in government offices and public sector undertakings.[32]

Vishwanath Pratap Singh (1989–1990)[edit]

Further information: Vishwanath Pratap Singh
  • First Prime Minister from a zamindar family.[33][34]
  • First Prime Minister affiliated to a royal family.

Chandra Shekhar (1990–1991)[edit]

Further information: Chandra Shekhar
  • First Prime Minister who had never held any prior government office.[35]

P. V. Narasimha Rao (1991–1996)[edit]

Further information: P. V. Narasimha Rao
  • First Prime Minister from South India.[36]
  • First Prime Minister from Andhra Pradesh.
  • First Prime Minister who spoke Telugu as his mother tongue.[36]
  • First Prime Minister to be imprisoned after serving PM.[37]
  • First Prime Minister to be fluent in over five languages.[38]

H. D. Deve Gowda (1996–1997)[edit]

Further information: H. D. Deve Gowda

Inder Kumar Gujral (1997–1998)[edit]

Further information: Inder Kumar Gujral
  • First Prime Minister from a Punjabi background.[41][42]
  • First Prime Minister born outside the land of modern independent India.[41]
  • First Prime Minister to write an autobiography.[43]

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1998–2004)[edit]

Further information: Atal Bihari Vajpayee
  • First Prime Minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party.[44]
  • First Prime Minister born in Madhya Pradesh.[45]
  • First Prime Minister not from the Indian National Congress to serve a full term in office.[44]
  • First Prime Minister to address the United Nations General Assembly in Hindi.[46]
  • First Prime Minister to be a bachelor and never married.[47]

Manmohan Singh (2004–2014)[edit]

Further information: Manmohan Singh
  • First Prime Minister of the Sikh faith and not of the Hindu faith.[48]
  • First Prime Minister to lead the country with a female president.

Narendra Modi (2014–present)[edit]

Further information: Narendra Modi
  • First Prime Minister born after independence in 1947.[49]
  • First Prime Minister born after the adoption of the Constitution of India.[49]
  • First Prime Minister to visit Israel.[50]
  • First Prime Minister to address the United States Congress.[51]
  • First Prime Minister to have ever been barred from entering the United States.[52]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU". Indian National Congress.
  2. ^ a b "Jawaharlal Nehru: Architect of modern India". Hindustan Times. 14 November 2019.
  3. ^ RC Bhargava; Ajit Balakrishnan; Anusua Basu; Ram S. Tarneja; Ashok Thakur (25 September 2008). "Report of IIM Review Committee" (PDF). Ministry of Education, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  4. ^ "'Thanks but No Thanks' – IIM Ahmedabad's Pioneeri0.52ng Decision". www.liberalsindia.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  5. ^ https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/visits-to-pakistan-by-indian-prime-ministers-115071100853_1.html
  6. ^ Babu, D. Shyam (11 July 2019). "Nehru and the Kashmir quandary". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  7. ^ Nanda, B.R. (1963). The Nehrus: Motilal and Jawaharlal. Oxford University Press. pp. 38–40.
  8. ^ a b "Lal Bahadur Shastri", britannica.com, 23 June 2023, archived from the original on 6 September 2015, retrieved 17 April 2020
  9. ^ Bakshi, Shiri Ram (1991), Struggle for Independence: Lal Bahadur Shastri, Anmol Publications, pp. 1, 2, ISBN 9788170411420, archived from the original on 31 March 2024, retrieved 10 December 2020
  10. ^ Dhawan, S. K. (1991), Bharat Ratnas, 1954-1991, Wave Publications, p. 81
  11. ^ a b Himmat. R. M. Lala. 1979. p. 8. Few cast so low, so ignominiously, have the courage and belief to return. Mrs Gandhi is the real iron lady.
  12. ^ a b Asian Studies. Institute of Asian Studies, University of the Philippines. 1982. p. 82. Indira Gandhi, is "charismatic" and tough. She is described as an "iron lady".
  13. ^ Crossette, Barbara (1989). "India Hangs Two Sikhs Convicted In Assassination of Indira Gandhi". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  14. ^ https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/former-prime-ministers/
  15. ^ "Interview with Indira Gandhi". Interview relecast through India times. TV Eye. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  16. ^ "Recalling the Emergency years". The Indian Express. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  17. ^ "Reaction and Long Pause". Reaction and Long Pause. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  18. ^ https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/narendra-modi-indian-pm-arrives-in-ottawa-for-1st-visit-to-canada-1.3033081
  19. ^ "History of delhi customs,Delhi Customs".
  20. ^ https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/former_pm/shri-morarji-desai-2/
  21. ^ a b Bhattacharya, DP (26 May 2014). "Gujarati Prime Ministers Morarji Desai & Narendra Modi share similarities". The Economic Times. Gandhinagar. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  22. ^ Prasad, Ravi Visvesvaraya Sharada (22 March 2021). "How Morarji Desai outwitted Jagjivan Ram and Charan Singh". Open The Magazine. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  23. ^ Hazarika, Sanjoy (11 April 1995). "Morarji Desai Dies at 99; Defeated Indira Gandhi to Become Premier of India". The New York Times.
  24. ^ "From HT Archives: Morarji Desai stepsdown as PM amid Janata Party crisis". 15 July 2023.
  25. ^ Shyam Bhatia (11 July 2001). "When India and Pakistan almost made peace". Rediff. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  26. ^
    • McLeod, John (2015). The History of India (2nd ed.). Greenwood. p. 221. ISBN 978-1-61069-765-1. Singh, Chaudhuri Charan (1902–1987). Politician. Born into a former royal family of the Jat caste; practiced law; joined Mahatma Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha 1930, the Individual Satyagraha against World War II 1940, and the Quit India movement 1942; a member of the Indian National Congress 1930–1967, the Bharatiya Kranti Dal 1967–1974, the Lok Dal 1974–1977, the Janata Party 1977–1979, and the Lok Dal again 1979–1987; chief minister of Uttar Pradesh 1967–1968 and 1970; deputy prime minister of India 1977–1979; prime minister of India 1979–1980.
    • Brass, Paul R. (2013). "Singh, Chaudhary Charan (1902–1987)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/97003. Singh, Chaudhary Charan (1902–1987), prime minister of India, was born on 23 December 1902 in the village of Nurpur, in Meerut district, United Provinces, India, the eldest of five children of Meer (Mukhiaji) Singh (c.1880–1960), a small farmer, of the jat caste, and his wife, Netra Kaur (c.1882–1957). (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  27. ^ "Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya | Museum on Indian Prime Ministers".
  28. ^ Brass, Paul (2014). An Indian Political Life: Charan Singh and Congress Politics, 1967 to 1987 – Vol.3 (The Politics of Northern India). Sage India. pp. 4–6. ISBN 978-9351500322.
  29. ^ "Charan Singh biography". 16 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  30. ^ a b c d "Rajiv Gandhi". www.mid-day.com. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  31. ^ Schiavazzi, Vera (17 January 2005). "Sonia Gandhi: The Maino girl who kept her tryst with destiny in India". India Today. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  32. ^ "The Computer Revolution Comes to India - Sort of". Christian Science Monitor.
  33. ^ Kumar, Ashwani (2008). Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar. Anthem Press. pp. 75–76. ISBN 978-1-84331-709-8.
  34. ^ Ghai, Rajat (7 May 2014). "The office of Prime Minister: A largely north Indian upper-caste, Hindu affair". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  35. ^ "Socialist Is Installed as India's Eleventh Prime Minister". Sanjoy Hazarika. The New York Times. 11 November 1990. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  36. ^ a b V. Venkatesan (14 January 2005). "Obituary: A scholar and a politician". Frontline. 22 (1). Archived from the original on 30 January 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  37. ^ Bobb, Dilip (15 July 1993). "Securities scam: Harshad Mehta claims to have paid Rs 1 crore to PM Narasimha Rao". India Today. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  38. ^ "PV Narasimha Rao: 10 things you did not know about 'modern India's Chanakya'". 28 June 2016.
  39. ^ "Asiaweek article". Retrieved 2007-09-30.
  40. ^ "New Indian Express article". Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  41. ^ a b "Contact Us – IndiaInfoline". www.indiainfoline.com. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  42. ^ Ghai, Rajat (7 May 2014). "The office of Prime Minister: A largely north Indian upper-caste, Hindu affair". Business Standard India. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  43. ^ "Candid chronicle of chaotic times". Chandran Mitra. The Times of India. 27 February 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  44. ^ a b "Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee". Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  45. ^ Singh, N. K (31 May 1996). "Atal Bihari Vajpayee: A private person with strong dislikes and few close friends". India Today. Archived from the original on 18 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  46. ^ "PM Narendra Modi to speak in Hindi in the UN General Assembly". The Economic Times. 14 September 2014.
  47. ^ "To evade marriage, Atal Bihari Vajpayee locked himself up for 3 days". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  48. ^ "Detailed Profile: Dr. Manmohan Singh". Archived from the original on 7 December 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  49. ^ a b "Narendra Modi appointed Prime Minister, swearing in on May 26". The Times of India. 20 May 2014. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  50. ^ "Plan to dehyphenate ties: PM Modi's visit to Israel may not include Palestine stop". The Indian Express. 4 March 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  51. ^ "PM Modi to become first Indian Prime Minister who will address US Congress twice". 12 June 2023.
  52. ^ "Analysis: How Modi went from being banned to embraced by the United States". CNN. 20 June 2023.
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