The spouse of the Prime Minister of India is the wife or husband of the prime minister of India. The prime minister's spouse does not have an officially defined role. According to protocol, they attend social functions and gatherings at home and overseas, but have no participatory role.[1]
To date there have been 10 women and one man who have been married to prime ministers whilst in office. India has also had one bachelor, one estranged, one widow, and two widower prime ministers.
List
editS. No. | Portrait | Name | Date of birth | Date of marriage | Prime Minister | Tenure began | Tenure ended | Date of death and age |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kamala Nehru[a] | 1 August 1899 | 1916 | Jawaharlal Nehru | 15 August 1947 | 27 May 1964 | 28 February 1936 | |
Acting | Lakshmi Nanda | Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) | 27 May 1964 | 9 June 1964 | ||||
11 January 1966 | 24 January 1966 | |||||||
2 | Lalita Shastri | 11 January 1910 | 16 May 1928 | Lal Bahadur Shastri | 9 June 1964 | 11 January 1966 | 13 April 1993 | |
3 | Feroze Gandhi[b] | 12 September 1912 | March 1942 | Indira Gandhi | 24 January 1966 | 24 March 1977 | 8 September 1960 | |
14 January 1980 | 31 October 1984 | |||||||
4 | Gujraben Desai | 1911 | Morarji Desai | 24 March 1977 | 28 July 1979 | |||
5 | Gayatri Devi | 5 December 1905 | Charan Singh | 28 July 1979 | 14 January 1980 | 10 May 2002 | ||
6 | Sonia Gandhi | 9 December 1946 | 1968 | Rajiv Gandhi | 31 October 1984 | 2 December 1989 | ||
7 | Sita Kumari Singh | V. P. Singh | 2 December 1989 | 10 November 1990 | ||||
8 | Duja Devi | Chandra Shekhar | 10 November 1990 | 21 June 1991 | 22 August 1997 | |||
9 | Satyamma Rao[c] | P. V. Narasimha Rao | 21 June 1991 | 16 May 1996 | 1 July 1970 | |||
– | Unmarried[d] | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 16 May 1996 | 1 June 1996 | ||||
19 March 1998 | 19 May 2004 | |||||||
10 | Chennamma Deve Gowda | 1954 | H. D. Deve Gowda | 1 June 1996 | 21 April 1997 | |||
11 | Sheila Gujral | 24 January 1924 | 26 May 1945 | Inder Kumar Gujral | 21 April 1997 | 19 March 1998 | 11 July 2011[2] | |
12 | Gursharan Kaur | 13 September 1937 | 1958 | Manmohan Singh | 22 May 2004 | 26 May 2014 | ||
13 | Jashodaben Modi (separated) | 1951 | 1968 | Narendra Modi | 26 May 2014 | Incumbent |
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Kamala Nehru, wife of Jawaharlal Nehru, died in 1936. Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi served as a hostess during his tenure.[1]
- ^ Feroze Gandhi, husband of Indira Gandhi, died in 1960. Her younger son, Sanjay Gandhi, served as host during her tenure.
- ^ Satyamma Rao, the wife of P. V. Narasimha Rao, died in 1970. No known hostess has served during Rao's term.
- ^ Vajpayee's adopted daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya served as the hostess during official functions.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c Doval, Nikita (21 August 2015). "India's missing first spouses". Live Mint. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ^ "Sheila Gujral passes away". The Hindu. PTI. 12 July 2011. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 November 2019.