List of prime ministers of India by longevity

Last updated
Living as of 27 September 2021
Prime MinisterDate of birthPrime Minister
Manmohan Singh 26 September 1932 (age 89)2004–2014
H. D. Deve Gowda 18 May 1933 (age 88)1996–1997
Narendra Modi 17 September 1950 (age 71)2014–2024

This is a list of prime ministers of India by longevity. Where the person in question is still living, the longevity is calculated up to 27 September 2021.

Contents

Two measures of the longevity are given - this is to allow for the differing number of leap days occurring within the life of each prime minister. The first column is the number of days between date of birth and date of death, allowing for leap days; the second column breaks this number down into years and days, with the years being the number of whole years the prime minister lived, and the days being the remaining number of days after his/her last birthday.

If a prime minister served more than one non-consecutive term, the dates listed below are for the beginning of their first term, and the end of their final term.

The median age at which a prime minister first takes office is roughly 64 years and 166 days, which falls between Narendra Modi and P. V. Narasimha Rao. The oldest person to become Prime Minister was Morarji Desai, who became Prime Minister at the age of 81 years, 23 days. The youngest person to become Prime Minister was Rajiv Gandhi, who became Prime Minister at the age of 40 years, 72 days.

Narendra ModiManmohan SinghInder Kumar GujralH. D. Deve GowdaAtal Bihari VajpayeeP. V. Narasimha RaoChandra ShekharVishwanath Pratap SinghRajiv GandhiCharan SinghMorarji DesaiIndira GandhiLal Bahadur ShastriGulzarilal NandaJawaharlal NehruList of prime ministers of India by longevity

The oldest living prime minister is Manmohan Singh, born 26 September 1932 (aged 89 years, 1 day). The youngest living prime minister is the incumbent Narendra Modi, born 17 September 1950 (aged 71 years, 10 days). Manmohan Singh and H. D. Deve Gowda are the only surviving former prime ministers of India.

The longest lived prime minister was Morarji Desai, who lived to the age of 99 years, 41 days. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the second longest-lived prime minister, who lived to the age of 93 years, 234 days, 5 years and 172 days short of Desai. The oldest living prime minister Manmohan Singh will tie Vajpayee if he lives to 1 June 2026, and tie Desai if he lives to 6 November 2031. The shortest lived prime minister was Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated at the age of 46 years, 274 days. Lal Bahadur Shastri is the only prime minister to die abroad, when he died in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbek SSR in 1966.

The prime minister with the longest retirement is H. D. Deve Gowda. He left office 24 years, 159 days ago on 21 April 1997 and is still alive. The prime minister with the shortest retirement is Rajiv Gandhi, who died on 21 May 1991, 1 year and 170 days after leaving office on 2 December 1989.

Narendra Modi (17 September 1950) is the first prime minister of India to be born after the Independence of India. All other former prime ministers were born before the Independence of India.

Age of the prime ministers when assuming office is shown in this bar chart. It is not quite a bell curve (mean age is 64.62 years and is marked by red line). Age distribution of Indian PMs.png
Age of the prime ministers when assuming office is shown in this bar chart. It is not quite a bell curve (mean age is 64.62 years and is marked by red line).

Prime ministers of India

  Living
  Currently in Office

#
Prime MinisterDate of birthPlace of birthStart date
of (first) term		Age at beginning
of (first) term		End date
of (final) term		Total time
in office		Date of deathPlace of deathLength of retirementLifespan
1 Jawaharlal Nehru 14 November 1889 Allahabad,
North-Western Provinces 		15 August 194757 years, 274 days27 May 1964 [1] 16 years, 286 days27 May 1964 New Delhi N/A27,222 days (74 years, 195 days)
2 Lal Bahadur Shastri 2 October 1904 Mughalsarai,
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh 		9 June 196459 years, 251 days11 January 1966 [1] 1 year, 216 days11 January 1966 Tashkent,
Uzbek SSR,
Soviet Union 		N/A22,381 days (61 years, 101 days)
3 Indira Gandhi 19 November 1917 Allahabad,
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh 		24 January 196648 years, 66 days31 October 1984 [1] 15 years, 350 days31 October 1984 New Delhi N/A24,453 days (66 years, 347 days)
4 Morarji Desai 29 February 1896 Bhadeli,
Bombay Presidency 		24 March 197781 years, 24 days28 July 19792 years, 126 days10 April 1995 Bombay,
Maharashtra 		15 years, 256 days36,199 days (99 years, 41 days)
5 Charan Singh 23 December 1902 Noorpur,
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh 		28 July 197976 years, 217 days14 January 1980170 days29 May 1987 New Delhi 7 years, 135 days30,838 days (84 years, 157 days)
6 Rajiv Gandhi 20 August 1944 Bombay,
Bombay Presidency 		31 October 198440 years, 72 days2 December 19895 years, 32 days21 May 1991 Sriperumpudur,
Tamil Nadu 		1 year, 170 days17,075 days (46 years, 274 days)
7 Vishwanath Pratap Singh 25 June 1931 Allahabad,
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh 		2 December 198958 years, 160 days10 November 1990343 days27 November 2008 New Delhi 17 years, 361 days28,280 days (77 years, 155 days)
8 Chandra Shekhar 1 July 1927 Ibrahimpatti,
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh 		10 November 199063 years, 132 days21 June 1991223 days8 July 2007 New Delhi 16 years, 17 days29,227 days (80 years, 7 days)
9 P. V. Narasimha Rao 28 June 1921 Narsampet,
Hyderabad State
21 June 199169 years, 358 days16 May 19964 years, 330 days23 December 2004 New Delhi 8 years, 221 days30,494 days (83 years, 178 days)
10 Atal Bihari Vajpayee 25 December 1924 Gwalior,
Gwalior State 		16 May 199671 years, 143 days22 May 20046 years, 78 days16 August 2018 New Delhi 14 years, 86 days34,202 days (93 years, 234 days)
11 H. D. Deve Gowda 18 May 1933 Haradanahalli,
Kingdom of Mysore 		1 June 199663 years, 14 days21 April 1997324 days – –24 years, 159 days32,274 days (88 years, 132 days)
12 Inder Kumar Gujral 4 December 1919 Pari Derveza,
Punjab Province 		21 April 199777 years, 138 days19 March 1998332 days30 November 2012 Gurgaon, Haryana 14 years, 256 days33,965 days (92 years, 362 days)
13 Manmohan Singh 26 September 1932 Gah,
Punjab Province 		22 May 200471 years, 239 days26 May 201410 years, 4 days – –7 years, 124 days32,508 days (89 years, 1 day)
14 Narendra Modi 17 September 1950 Vadnagar,
Bombay State 		26 May 201463 years, 251 daysIncumbent7 years, 124 days – –Incumbent25,943 days (71 years, 10 days)

Oldest living prime ministers of India

Not all prime ministers live to become the oldest of their time. Of the 11 deceased prime ministers, 7 eventually became the oldest of their time, while 4 did not. Morarji Desai became the oldest living prime minister when he was appointed in 1977 and remained so until his death in 1995, for a record 18 years and 17 days. Lal Bahadur Shastri became the oldest living prime minister when he was appointed in 1964, but he held this distinction for only 1 year and 216 days.

On two occasions the oldest living prime minister lost this distinction not by her or his death, but due to the appointment of a prime minister who was older. Indira Gandhi lost this distinction when Morarji Desai was appointed, and subsequently, P. V. Narasimha Rao lost this distinction when I. K. Gujral was appointed. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the oldest to acquire this distinction at the age of 87 years, and 341 days. Charan Singh, who was 84 years, and 157 days old when he died was the oldest prime minister to die without ever acquiring this distinction Vishwanath Pratap Singh who died on 27 November 2008 at the age of 77 years and 155 days was the most recent prime minister to die without ever acquiring this distinction.

Prime MinisterPeriod when oldest living prime ministerAgeDuration
Start dateEnd dateat startat end
Jawaharlal Nehru 15 August 194727 May 196457 years, 274 days74 years, 195 days16 years, 286 days
Lal Bahadur Shastri 9 June 196411 January 196659 years, 251 days61 years, 101 days1 year, 216 days
Indira Gandhi 24 January 196624 March 197748 years, 66 days59 years, 125 days11 years, 59 days
Morarji Desai 24 March 197710 April 199581 years, 24 days99 years, 41 days18 years, 17 days
P. V. Narasimha Rao 10 April 199521 April 199773 years, 286 days75 years, 297 days2 years, 11 days
Inder Kumar Gujral 21 April 199730 November 201277 years, 138 days92 years, 362 days15 years, 223 days
Atal Bihari Vajpayee 30 November 201216 August 201887 years, 341 days93 years, 234 days5 years, 259 days
Manmohan Singh 16 August 2018–85 years, 324 days–3 years, 42 days
Prime MinisterStart dateEnd dateAge at startAge at endDuration

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Died in office on this date.
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