Minister of Home Affairs (India)

The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the home minister is the maintenance of the internal security of India; the country's large police force comes under its jurisdiction. Occasionally, they are assisted by the Minister of State of Home Affairs and the lower-ranked Deputy Minister of Home Affairs.

Minister of Home Affairs
Grih Mantrī
Incumbent
Amit Shah
since 31 May 2019 (2019-05-31)
Ministry of Home Affairs
AbbreviationMHA
Member ofCabinet of India
Cabinet Committee on Security
Reports toPresident of India
Prime Minister of India
Parliament of India
AppointerPresident of India
on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of India
Formation1947 (1947)
First holderVallabhbhai Patel
DeputyMinister of State for Home Affairs

Ever since the time of independent India's first Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the office has been seen as second in seniority only to the Prime Minister in the union cabinet. Like Patel, several Home Ministers have since held the additional portfolio of Deputy Prime Minister. As of February 2020, three Home Ministers have gone on to become the Prime Minister: Lal Bahadur Shastri, Charan Singh and P. V. Narasimha Rao. L.K. Advani, serving from 19 March 1998 to 22 May 2004, has held the office of the Home Minister for the longest continuous period, as of February 2020.

On several occasions, the Prime Minister also held the additional portfolio of the Minister of Home Affairs. Jawaharlal Nehru briefly acted as home minister in 1950 following the demise of Vallabhbhai Patel, Indira Gandhi briefly served as home minister in 1966 following resignation of Gulzarilal Nanda, Morarji Desai held the portfolio from 1978 till 1979, Chandra Shekhar throughout his prime ministerial tenure and H. D. Deve Gowda briefly served as home minister in 1996.

P. Chidambaram who served as the home minister from 2008 till 2012 has the rare distinction of serving as both cabinet minister and minister of state in the ministry. He served as minister of state from 1986 till 1989. The current minister is Amit Shah of the Bharatiya Janata Party who has been in office since 31 May 2019 and succeeded his party colleague Rajnath Singh as the home minister.

Cabinet Ministers[1] edit

Key
Assassinated or died in office
No. Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
1   Vallabhbhai Patel
(1875–1950)
MP for Bombay

(Deputy Prime Minister)
15 August
1947
12 December
1950[†]
1 year, 119 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
2   Jawaharlal Nehru
(1889–1964)
MP for United Provinces

(Prime Minister)
12 December
1950
26 December
1950
14 days
3   C. Rajagopalachari
(1878–1972)
Unelected
26 December
1950
5 November
1951
314 days
4   Kailash Nath Katju
(1887–1968)
MP for Mandsaur
5 November
1951
13 May
1952
3 years, 66 days
13 May
1952
10 January
1955
Nehru II
5   Govind Ballabh Pant
(1887–1961)
MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha)
10 January
1955
17 April
1957
6 years, 56 days
17 April
1957
7 March
1961[†]
Nehru III
6   Lal Bahadur Shastri
(1904–1966)
MP for Allahabad
26 February
1961
10 April
1962
2 years, 187 days
2 April
1962
1 September
1963
Nehru IV
7   Gulzarilal Nanda
(1898–1998)
MP for Sabarkantha
1 September
1963
27 May
1964
3 years, 69 days
27 May
1964
9 June
1964
Nanda I Self
(acting)
9 June
1964
11 January
1966
Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
11 January
1966
24 January
1966
Nanda II Self
(acting)
24 January
1966
9 November
1966
Indira I Indira Gandhi
  Indira Gandhi
(1917–1984)
MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha)

(Prime Minister)
9 November
1966
13 November
1966
4 days
8   Yashwantrao Chavan
(1913–1984)
MP for Nashik
13 November
1966
13 March
1967
3 years, 226 days
13 March
1967
27 June
1970
Indian National Congress (R) Indira II
  Indira Gandhi
(1917–1984)
MP for Rae Bareli

(Prime Minister)
27 June
1970
13 March
1971
2 years, 223 days
13 March
1971
5 February
1973
Indira III
9 Uma Shankar Dikshit
(1901–1991)
MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha)
5 February
1973
10 October
1974
1 year, 247 days
10   Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
(1909–1994)
Rajya Sabha MP for Andhra Pradesh
10 October
1974
24 March
1977
2 years, 165 days
11   Charan Singh
(1902–1987)
MP for Baghpat
24 March
1977
1 July
1978
1 year, 99 days Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai
  Morarji Desai
(1896–1995)
MP for Surat

(Prime Minister)
1 July
1978
24 January
1979
207 days
12 Hirubhai M. Patel
(1904–1993)
MP for Sabarkantha
24 January
1979
28 July
1979
185 days
(8)   Yashwantrao Chavan
(1913–1984)
MP for Satara

(Deputy Prime Minister)
28 July
1979
14 January
1980
170 days Janata Party (Secular) Charan Singh Charan Singh
13   Zail Singh
(1916–1994)
MP for Hoshiarpur
14 January
1980
22 June
1982
2 years, 159 days Indian National Congress (I) Indira IV Indira Gandhi
14   Ramaswamy Venkataraman
(1910–2009)
MP for Chennai South
22 June
1982
2 September
1982
72 days
15   Prakash Chandra Sethi
(1919–1996)
MP for Indore
2 September
1982
19 July
1984
1 year, 321 days
16   P. V. Narasimha Rao
(1921–2004)
MP for Hanamkonda
19 July
1984
31 October
1984
165 days
31 October
1984
31 December
1984
Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi
17   Shankarrao Chavan
(1920–2004)
MP for Nanded
31 December
1984
12 March
1986
1 year, 71 days Rajiv II
(16)   P. V. Narasimha Rao
(1921–2004)
MP for Hanamkonda
12 March
1986
12 May
1986
61 days
18   Buta Singh
(1934–2021)
MP for Jalore
12 May
1986
2 December
1989
3 years, 204 days
19   Mufti Mohammad Sayeed
(1936–2016)
MP for Muzaffarnagar
2 December
1989
10 November
1990
1 year, 8 days Janata Dal Vishwanath V. P. Singh
  Chandra Shekhar
(1927–2007)
MP for Ballia

(Prime Minister)
10 November
1990
21 June
1991
223 days Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar
(17)   Shankarrao Chavan
(1920–2004)
MP for Maharashtra (Rajya Sabha)
21 June
1991
16 May
1996
4 years, 330 days Indian National Congress (I) Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
20   Murli Manohar Joshi
(born 1934)
MP for Allahabad
16 May
1996
1 June
1996
16 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Atal Bihari Vajpayee
  H. D. Deve Gowda
(born 1933)
Unelected

(Prime Minister)
1 June
1996
29 June
1996
28 days Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda
21   Indrajit Gupta
(1919–2001)
MP for Midnapore
29 June
1996
21 April
1997
1 year, 263 days Communist Party of India
21 April
1997
19 March
1998
Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral
22   L. K. Advani
(born 1927)
MP for Gandhinagar

(Deputy Prime Minister
from 29 June 2002)
19 March
1998
13 October
1999
6 years, 64 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
13 October
1999
22 May
2004
Vajpayee III
23   Shivraj Patil
(born 1935)
MP for Maharashtra (Rajya Sabha)
23 May
2004
30 November
2008
4 years, 191 days Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
24   P. Chidambaram
(born 1945)
MP for Sivaganga
30 November
2008
22 May
2009
3 years, 244 days
23 May
2009
31 July
2012
Manmohan II
25   Sushilkumar Shinde
(born 1941)
MP for Solapur
31 July
2012
26 May
2014
1 year, 299 days
26   Rajnath Singh
(born 1951)
MP for Lucknow
27 May
2014
30 May
2019
5 years, 3 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
27   Amit Shah
(born 1964)
MP for Gandhinagar
31 May
2019
Incumbent 4 years, 292 days Modi II

Ministers of State edit

Key
Assassinated or died in office
No. Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
1 Rustom Khurshedji Sidhwa
(1882–1957)
11 October
1951
13 May
1952
215 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
2 B. N. Datar
(1894–1963)
MP for Belgaum
14 February
1956
17 April
1957
6 years, 364 days Nehru II
17 April
1957
10 April
1962
Nehru III
16 April
1962
13 February
1963
Nehru IV
3   Ramchandra Martand Hajarnavis
(1908–1976)
MP for Bhandara
22 February
1963
10 March
1964
1 year, 17 days
4   Jaisukhlal Hathi
(1909–1982)
MP for Gujarat (Rajya Sabha)
10 March
1964
27 May
1964
2 years, 248 days
27 May
1964
9 June
1964
Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
9 June
1964
11 January
1966
Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
11 January
1966
24 January
1966
Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
24 January
1966
13 November
1966
Indira I Indira Gandhi
5   Vidya Charan Shukla
(1929–2013)
MP for Mahasamund
13 March
1967
27 June
1970
3 years, 106 days
6   Ram Niwas Mirdha
(1924–2010)
MP for Rajasthan (Rajya Sabha)

(Personnel and Administrative Reforms)
27 June
1970
18 March
1971
264 days
7   K. C. Pant
(1931–2012)
MP for Nainital
27 June
1970
18 March
1971
3 years, 135 days
18 March
1971
9 November
1973
Indira II
8 Om Mehta
(1927–1995)
MP for Jammu and Kashmir

(Personnel and Administrative Reforms)
10 October
1974
24 March
1977
2 years, 165 days
9 S. D. Patil
MP for Erandol
14 August
1977
28 July
1979
1 year, 348 days Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai
10 Dhanik Lal Mandal
(1932–2022)
MP for Jhanjharpur
14 August
1977
15 July
1979
2 years, 153 days
30 July
1979
14 January
1980
Janata Party (Secular) Charan Singh Charan Singh
11 Pendekanti Venkatasubbaiah
(1921–1993)
MP for Nandyal
14 January
1980
31 October
1984
4 years, 291 days Indian National Congress Indira III Indira Gandhi
12 Yogendra Makwana
(born 1933)
MP for Gujarat (Rajya Sabha)
14 January
1980
15 January
1982
2 years, 1 day
13 Nihar Ranjan Laskar
(born 1932)
MP for Karimganj
15 January
1982
7 February
1984
2 years, 23 days
14   Ram Dulari Sinha
(1922–1994)
MP for Sheohar
7 February
1984
31 October
1984
267 days
(11) Pendekanti Venkatasubbaiah
(1921–1993)
MP for Nandyal
4 November
1984
31 December
1984
57 days Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi
(14)   Ram Dulari Sinha
(1922–1994)
MP for Sheohar
4 November
1984
31 December
1984
325 days
31 December
1984
25 September
1985
Rajiv II
15   Arif Mohammad Khan
(born 1951)
MP for Bahraich
12 August
1985
25 September
1986
44 days
16   P. A. Sangma
(1947–2016)
MP for Tura

(States)
25 September
1985
20 January
1986
117 days
17 Arun Nehru
(1944–2013)
MP for Raebareli

(Internal Security)
(6)   Ram Niwas Mirdha
(1924–2010)
MP for Rajasthan (Rajya Sabha)
14 March
1986
14 June
1986
0 days
18   Ghulam Nabi Azad
(born 1949)
MP for Washim

(States)
12 May
1986
22 October
1986
163 days
19   P. Chidambaram
(born 1945)
MP for Sivaganga
24 June
1986
2 December
1989
3 years, 161 days
20   Chintamani Panigrahi
(1922–2000)
MP for Bhubaneswar
22 October
1986
25 June
1988
1 year, 247 days
21   Santosh Mohan Dev
(1934–2017)
MP for Silchar

(Internal Security)
25 June
1988
2 December
1989
1 year, 160 days
22   Subodh Kant Sahay
(born 1951)
MP for Ranchi
23 April
1990
5 November
1990
196 days Janata Dal V. P. Singh V. P. Singh
21 November
1990
21 June
1991
228 days Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar
23   M. M. Jacob
(1926–2018)
MP for Kerala (Rajya Sabha)
21 June
1991
17 January
1993
1 year, 210 days Indian National Congress Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
24   Rajesh Pilot
(1945–2000)
MP for Dausa

(Internal Security)
18 January
1993
15 September
1995
2 years, 240 days
25   P. M. Sayeed
(1941–2005)
MP for Lakshadweep
19 January
1993
2 years, 239 days
26   Syed Sibtey Razi
(1939–2022)
MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha)
15 September
1995
16 May
1996
244 days
27 Ram Lal Rahi
(1934–2020)
MP for Misrikh
28 Meijinlung Kamson
(born 1939)
MP for Outer Manipur
29   Mohammed Taslimuddin
(1943–2017)
MP for Kishanganj
1 June
1996
9 June
1996
8 days Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda
30 Maqbool Dar
(1943–2008)
MP for Anantnag
10 July
1996
21 April
1997
285 days
1 May
1997
19 March
1998
322 days Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral
31   Ram Naik
(born 1934)
MP for Mumbai North
5 May
1999
13 October
1999
161 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
32   I. D. Swami
(1929–2019)
MP for Karnal
13 October
1999
22 May
2004
4 years, 222 days Vajpayee III
33   C. Vidyasagar Rao
(born 1941)
MP for Karimnagar
13 October
1999
29 January
2003
3 years, 108 days
34   Harin Pathak
(born 1947)
MP for Ahmedabad East
29 January
2003
22 May
2004
1 year, 114 days
35   Chinmayanand Swami
(born 1947)
MP for Jaunpur
24 May
2003
22 May
2004
364 days
36   Manikrao Hodlya Gavit
(1934–2022)
MP for Nandurbar
23 May
2004
6 April
2007
2 years, 318 days Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
37   Shriprakash Jaiswal
(born 1944)
MP for Kanpur
23 May
2004
22 May
2009
4 years, 364 days
38   S. Regupathy
(born 1950)
MP for Pudukkottai
23 May
2004
15 May
2007
2 years, 357 days Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
38   V. Radhika Selvi
(born 1976)
MP for Tiruchendur
18 May
2007
22 May
2009
2 years, 4 days
39   Shakeel Ahmad
(born 1956)
MP for Madhubani
6 April
2008
22 May
2009
1 year, 46 days Indian National Congress
40   Mullappally Ramachandran
(born 1944)
MP for Vatakara
29 May
2009
26 May
2014
4 years, 362 days Manmohan II
41   Ajay Maken
(born 1964)
MP for New Delhi
29 May
2009
19 January
2011
1 year, 235 days
42   Gurudas Kamat
(1954–2018)
MP for Mumbai North West
19 January
2011
12 July
2011
174 days
43   Jitendra Singh
(born 1971)
MP for Alwar
12 July
2011
28 October
2012
1 year, 108 days
44   R. P. N. Singh
(born 1964)
MP for Kushi Nagar
28 October
2012
26 May
2014
1 year, 210 days
45   Kiren Rijiju
(born 1971)
MP for Arunachal West
26 May
2014
30 May
2019
5 years, 4 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
46   Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary
(born 1954)
MP for Banaskantha
9 November
2014
5 July
2016
1 year, 239 days
47   Hansraj Gangaram Ahir
(born 1954)
MP for Chandrapur
5 July
2016
30 May
2019
2 years, 329 days
48   G. Kishan Reddy
(born 1964)
MP for Secunderabad
31 May
2019
7 July
2021
2 years, 37 days Modi II
49   Nityanand Rai
(born 1966)
MP for Ujiarpur
31 May
2019
Incumbent 4 years, 292 days
50   Ajay Mishra Teni
(born 1960)
MP for Kheri
7 July
2021
Incumbent 2 years, 255 days
51   Nisith Pramanik
(born 1986)
MP for Cooch Behar

Deputy Ministers edit

No. Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
1 B. N. Datar
(1894–1963)
MP for Belgaum North
12 August
1952
14 February
1956
3 years, 186 days Indian National Congress Nehru II Jawaharlal Nehru
2   Violet Alva
(1909–1969)
MP for Bombay (Rajya Sabha)
23 April
1957
10 April
1962
4 years, 352 days Nehru III
3   Maragatham Chandrasekar
(1917–2001)
MP for Sriperumbudur
8 May
1962
27 May
1964
2 years, 19 days Nehru IV
4   Lalit Narayan Mishra
(1923–1975)
MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha)
26 February
1964
27 May
1964
91 days
(3)   Maragatham Chandrasekar
(1917–2001)
MP for Sriperumbudur
27 May
1964
9 June
1964
13 days Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
(4)   Lalit Narayan Mishra
(1923–1975)
MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha)
27 May
1964
9 June
1964
1 year, 242 days
9 June
1964
11 January
1966
Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
11 January
1966
24 January
1966
Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
5   Purnendu Sekhar Naskar
(1921–?)
MP for Mathurapur
24 January
1966
13 March
1967
1 year, 48 days Indira I Indira Gandhi
6   Vidya Charan Shukla
(1929–2013)
MP for Mahasamund
14 February
1966
13 March
1967
1 year, 27 days
7 K. S. Ramaswamy
(1922–2004)
MP for Madras (Rajya Sabha)
18 March
1967
18 March
1971
4 years, 0 days
8 Fakruddinsab Hussensab Mohsin
(1923–1996)
MP for Dharwad South
2 May
1971
24 March
1977
5 years, 326 days Indira II
9 Ram Lal Rahi
(1934–2020)
MP for Misrikh
21 June
1991
15 September
1995
4 years, 86 days Indian National Congress Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
Position not in use (since 15 September 1995)

References edit

  1. ^ "List of Home Ministers of India (1947 to 2022)". Jagranjosh.com. 4 January 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

External links edit