The Deputy Prime Minister of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

is a member of the Indian cabinet in the Indian government. The post is not a constitutional

Constitution of India

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens...

 post and seldom carries any specific powers. Generally a Deputy Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister

A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...

 also holds other key portfolios like Home minister

Minister for Home Affairs (India)

The Home Minister, or more properly the Minister for Home Affairs, is a position in the Indian Cabinet, at both State and Union levels. The Home Ministry is one of the most important, powerful and high profile ministry after the Prime Minister...

 or Finance Minister

Finance Minister of India

The Minister of Finance, also known as the Finance Minister of India is a cabinet position in the Government of India and heads the Ministry of Finance. He drafts the general budget of the country, and is in charge of the national economy. Currently, Pranab Mukherjee holds the charge of finance...

. Though the Indian Constitution does not specify the position and with the Prime Minister

Prime Minister of India

The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...

 himself being treated as "first among equals" in the cabinet, the position of DPM is sometimes used by governments to bring political stability and strength by including a powerful individual, or in times of national emergency, when a proper chain of command is necessary. The first Deputy Prime Minister was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel was an Indian barrister and statesman, one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and one of the founding fathers of India...

. The last person to hold this post was Lal Krishna Advani

Lal Krishna Advani

Lal Kishanchand Advani known as Lal Krishna Advani is a Veteran Indian politician. A former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party , which is currently the major opposition party in the Indian Parliament. He also served as a Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004...

 of the previous government. The current government does not have a Deputy Prime Minister.

The Deputy Prime Minister in reality has no power except chairing the Cabinet meetings in the absence of the Prime Minister. Only if the Prime Minister is taken ill seriously, incapacitated or in the event of his death, does the Deputy Prime Minister take the same level of responsibility.

List of Deputy Prime Ministers of India

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Date of Birth and Death	Political party
1	Sardar Patel		15 August 1947	15 December 1950 *	31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950	Indian National Congress Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
2	Morarji Desai Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai was an Indian independence activist and the fourth Prime Minister of India from 1977–79. He was the first Indian Prime Minister who did not belong to the Indian National Congress...  ***		21 March 1967	6 December 1969 **	29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995	Indian National Congress Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
3	Choudhary Charan Singh Choudhary Charan Singh Chaudhary Charan Singh was the fifth Prime Minister of the Republic of India, serving from 28 July 1979 until 14 January 1980.Born into a Jat family in 1902, Charan Singh entered politics as part of the Independence Movement...  ***		28 July 1977	23 February 1978 **	23 December 1902 - 29 May 1987	Janata Party Janata Party The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...
3	Choudhary Charan Singh Choudhary Charan Singh Chaudhary Charan Singh was the fifth Prime Minister of the Republic of India, serving from 28 July 1979 until 14 January 1980.Born into a Jat family in 1902, Charan Singh entered politics as part of the Independence Movement...  ***		9 September 1978	3 August 1979 Joint Deputy PM with Jagjivan Ram **	23 December 1902 - 29 May 1987	Janata Party Janata Party The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...
4	Jagjivan Ram Jagjivan Ram Babu Jagjivan Ram , known popularly as Babuji, was a freedom fighter and a social reformer hailing from the scheduled castes of Bihar in India. He was from the Chamar caste and was a leader for his community...		9 September 1978	28 July 1979 Joint Deputy PM with Charan till Charan resigned Designated PM by ruling Janta Party on Desai's resignation on July 16th and served as head of Govt till July 22 (Atal Behari Vajpayee was designated Deputy PM) till President asked Charan singh to form Govt.	5 April 1908 - 6 July 1986	Janata Party Janata Party The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...
5	Yashwantrao Chavan Yashwantrao Chavan Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan was the first Chief Minister of Maharashtra after the division of Bombay State and the fifth Deputy Prime Minister of India. He was a strong Congress leader, Cooperative leader, social activist and writer. He was popularly known as Leader of Common People...		28 July 1979	14 January 1980 (Lost elections)	12 March 1913 - 25 November 1984	Congress (Urs)
6	Chaudhari Devi Lal Chaudhari Devi Lal Chaudhary Devi Lal Sihag was an Indian politician, freedom fighter, Chief Minister of the state of Haryana and Deputy Prime Minister of India. He was born in a Jaat Hindu family of Sihag clan on 25 September 1914 in Teja Khera village of Sirsa district in Haryana, India.. His mother's name was...		19 October 1989	11 August 1990 **	23 July 1914 - 14 November 2001	Janata Dal Janata Dal Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Congress, and the Jan Morcha led by V. P...
6	Chaudhari Devi Lal Chaudhari Devi Lal Chaudhary Devi Lal Sihag was an Indian politician, freedom fighter, Chief Minister of the state of Haryana and Deputy Prime Minister of India. He was born in a Jaat Hindu family of Sihag clan on 25 September 1914 in Teja Khera village of Sirsa district in Haryana, India.. His mother's name was...		11 October 1990	23 March 1991 **	23 July 1914 - 14 November 2001	Janata Dal Chandrasekhara
7	Lal Krishna Advani Lal Krishna Advani Lal Kishanchand Advani known as Lal Krishna Advani is a Veteran Indian politician. A former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party , which is currently the major opposition party in the Indian Parliament. He also served as a Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004...		29 June 2002	20 May 2004 (Lost elections)	8 November 1927- __________	Bharatiya Janata Party Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...

* Died in Office

** Resigned

*** Also served as Prime Minister

There was formal ranking system in Indian cabinet in place till 1980, it mentioned a specific Number 2 who acted as PM in PM 's absence: viz when Nehru went on world tour for 4 months in 1956 as part of NAM discussion, Maulana Azad was the acting PM

After death of Sardar Patel, #2 of the cabinet as per official Foreign relations annual were:

C Rajgopalachari (1950 December-1952), left to become CM Madras

Maulana Azad (1952 till death 1958) (since 1955, GB Pant the Home Minister was looked upon to chair cabinet committees)

GB Pant (1958 tillt death 1961) (He started handling exra responsibilities some time earlier because of Azad's health)

Morarji Desai (1961 till June 1963) All ministers resigned under Kamraj Plan in 1963

Gulzarilal Nanda (June 1963 to May 1964), on January 8, 1964, JL Nehru took ill and as Nanda took over PM's duties and papers, on January 27th, Lal Bahadur Shastri was sworn in back into cabinet and given official #4 position but was to run PMO till Nehru got better. Nehru died May 27th and in June, Shastri took over as elected PM without contest

Gulzarilal Nanda (June 1964 to January 11, 1966), till shahstri's death. Indira gandhi was sworn in as Minister in June 1964 and given rank #4 and on TT Krishnamachari's disgrace and resignation, she became automatic #3 and #2 on Shahstri's death, She was elected PM in a contest against Morarji Desai.

Gulzari Lal Nanda (January 24 1966 to November 14, 1966) resigned on the Cow slaughter ban staygarha, there is no clear #2 in Cabinet till next elections till

Morarji Desai was elected Deputy PM March 21 1967 remaining till December 1969 when Indira Gandhi relieved him of the Finance portfolio and he resigned effectively splitting the Congress Party

YB Chavan was designated #2 from December 1969 to March 1977 though Jagjivan Ram was given equal precedence in all matters as well. In this period, they stopped publishing cabinet lists with ranks. Indira Gandhi gave more powers and precednce to interlopers like Mohan Kumarmangalam, PK Dhar and Dinesh Singh Kalankar.

Charan Singh was Deputy PM and resigned in early 1978 when Jagjivan Ram became official #2

Both Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram were sworn in as Official Deputy PM in September of 1978 till July 2 1979 when Charan Singh left Desai Govt.

Jagjivan Ram was lone Deputy PM from July 2 to July 16 1979 when Morarji Desai resigned as PM, Jagjivan was designated as successor and asked President Sanjeeva Reddy to swear him in

Atal Behari Vajpayee was designated Deputy PM for Jagjiwan Ram during the July 16 to July 28 fiasco

After 1980 elections, Indira Gandhi did not designate #2 but a deputy leader who changed several times every few months till 1983 January when Pranab Mukherjee was designated #2 and remained till Indira's death in October 1984

PV Narasimha Rao was designated #2 in Rajiv Gandhi cabinet. January 1985 to December 1989

Sharad Pawar was designated #2 in PV Narasimha Rao Govt June 1991 to March 1993 when he left to take over as CM Maharastra

Arjun Singh was designated #2 from March 1993 to Feb 1995 though SB Chavan the Home Minister was given precedence

Dinesh Singh was senior most Minister for period till his health worsened

SB Chavan was #2 from July 1995 to January 1996

Pranab Mukherjee was #2 for second time to Narasimha Rao for final six months of his govt. in 1996

Sikandar Bakth was #2 to Atal Behari Vajpayee in his 13 day govt.

Indrajit Das Gupta was #2 to Deve Gowda for his tenure, Dasgupta served as PM in charge for 4 days when Deve Gowda was out of country in March 1997

Mulayam Singh the Defence minister was #2 to IK Gujral (Mulayam actually won the vote to replace Deve Gowda but compromise happened)

LK Advani was #2 then Official Deputy PM to Atal Behari Vajpayee during his 6 year tenure

Pranab Mukherjee is official #2 and chairman of all Cabinet commitees from May 2004 to date, he became #2 for the third time.