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List of Deputy Prime Ministers of India
The Deputy Prime Minister of India is a member of the Union Council of Ministers. His position is after the Prime Minister in the Council of Ministers. In the absence of the Prime Minister, he presides over a meeting of the Council of Ministers. Usually, senior cabinet ministers such as the home minister, finance minister or defence minister are installed in this position, which is considered the most senior after the Prime Minister. However, there is no provision in the Indian Constitution for a Deputy Prime Minister. Thus, there is no constitutional compulsion to fill this post. Usually, this post has been used to strengthen the coalition government.
There have been 7 Deputy Prime Ministers of India since August 15, 1947, when India gained independence. No one has completed one full term as Deputy Prime Minister of India. Refer to the table given below to learn about the Deputy Prime Ministers of India from 1947 to 2022.
| Serial Number | Name | Tenure |
| 1 | Vallabhbhai Patel | 15 August 1947 – 15 December 1950 |
| 2 | Morarji Desai | 13 March 1967 – 16 July 1969 |
| 3 | Chaudhary Charan Singh | 24 January 1979 – 16 July 1979 |
| 4 | Jagjivan Ram | 24 January 1979 – 28 July 1979 |
| 5 | Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan | 28 July 1979 – 14 January 1980 |
| 6 | Chaudhary Devi Lal | 2 December 1989 – 1 August 1990 And 10 November 1990 – 21 June 1991 |
| 7 | Lal Krishna Advani | 29 June 2002 – 22 May 2004 |
Some Important Facts about the Deputy Prime Ministers
Some important facts related to the Deputy Prime Ministers of India are given below:
- Vallabhbhai Patel was the first Deputy Prime Minister of India. He was the longest-serving Deputy Prime Minister of India. He was also the first Home Minister of India.
- Morarji Desai was the first Deputy Prime Minister of India who became Prime Minister of India. He was the first Chief Minister who became Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister of India.
- Chaudhary Charan Singh was the second Chief Minister who became Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister of India.
- The total tenure of Jagjivan Ram in various ministries was 29 years, 4 months and 25 days, which remains the longest of any Indian federal minister.
- Devi Lal is the only deputy prime minister to represent two different parties in the same post.
- Lal Krishna Advani is the longest-serving person in the Leader of the Opposition post in the Lok Sabha.
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