Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India is, in practice, the most powerful person in the government of India. The Prime Minister is technically outranked by the President of India, but because the President's duties are largely ceremonial, the Prime Minister has effective responsibility for government.India follows a parliamentary system of government, modelled after that of the United Kingdom to which it was formerly subject. In this system, the Prime Minister is generally the leader of a party (or coalition of parties) that can gain a majority in the lower house (Lok Sabha) of the Parliament of India.
There have been twelve people who have served as Prime Minister of India. Jawaharlal Nehru served for four terms ('47-'52, '52-'57, '57-'62 and '62-'64). Indira Gandhi served three terms ('66-'71, '71-'77, '80-'83) and Atal Behari Vajpayee) served on two separate occasions. Gulzari Lal Nanda acted Prime Minister during two transition periods, but is generally not counted as a Prime Minister in his own right.
The early years were dominated by the Indian National Congress party, which held the premiership for thirty years after Indian independence. Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress Prime Minister in 1977. The present Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, is from the Bharatiya Janata Party. He became that party's first Prime Minister in 1996, and was later returned to power in 1998.