Home Minister of India list from 1947 to 2026 is updated here with names, term dates and party details. Amit Shah is the current Home Minister of India, and he became the longest-serving Home Minister of the country on 5 August 2025, going past L. K. Advani's old record.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was the first Home Minister of independent India, and the post is seen as second in seniority only to the Prime Minister in the Union Cabinet. Indira Gandhi is the only woman who has held this office, and she was also the Prime Minister of India. Details of every Home Minister who served from 1947 till now are given below.
Home Minister of India List 1947 to 2026
Amit Shah took charge as the Union Home Minister on 30 May 2019 in the second Modi government, and he continued in the same post in the third Modi government from 9 June 2024. Before him, Rajnath Singh held the Home Ministry from 26 May 2014 to 30 May 2019. So the BJP has been holding this ministry continuously since 2014.
Many Home Ministers also carried the extra charge of Deputy Prime Minister. Yashwantrao Chavan and L. K. Advani are the two names in this list who handled both posts together. Three Home Ministers later went on to become Prime Minister, and those names are Lal Bahadur Shastri, Charan Singh and P. V. Narasimha Rao. P. Chidambaram holds another rare record, as he served in this ministry both as a Minister of State and later as a Cabinet Minister.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| List Name | Home Minister of India List |
| Total Home Ministers | 31 (with repeat terms marked separately) |
| First Home Minister | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel |
| Current Home Minister | Amit Shah, since 30 May 2019 |
| Longest Serving Home Minister | Amit Shah, record crossed on 5 August 2025 |
| Ministry | Ministry of Home Affairs |
| Official Website | mha.gov.in |
Full List of Home Ministers of India from 1947 to 2026
The table below carries the complete Home Minister list with the term start date, term end date and the party of each minister. Repeat terms are shown with a dash in the serial number column, so the same person appearing twice is easy to spot.
| S. No | Home Minister | Office Term From | To | Party Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel | 2 September 1946 | 12 December 1950 | INC |
| 2 | Jawaharlal Nehru | 12 December 1950 | 26 December 1950 | INC |
| 3 | C. Rajagopalachari | 26 December 1950 | 25 October 1951 | INC |
| 4 | Kailash Nath Katju | 5 November 1951 | 10 January 1955 | INC |
| 5 | G. B. Pant | 10 January 1955 | 25 February 1961 | INC |
| 6 | Lal Bahadur Shastri | 25 February 1961 | 1 September 1963 | INC |
| 7 | Gulzarilal Nanda | 1 September 1963 | 9 November 1966 | INC |
| 8 | Indira Gandhi | 9 November 1966 | 13 November 1966 | INC |
| 9 | Yashwantrao Chavan | 13 November 1966 | 27 June 1970 | INC |
| - | Indira Gandhi | 27 June 1970 | 5 February 1973 | INC |
| 10 | Uma Shankar Dikshit | 5 February 1973 | 10 October 1974 | INC |
| 11 | Kasu Brahmananda Reddy | 10 October 1974 | 24 March 1977 | INC |
| 12 | Charan Singh | 24 March 1977 | 1 July 1978 | Janata Party |
| 13 | Morarji Desai | 1 July 1978 | 24 January 1979 | Janata Party |
| 14 | Hirubhai M. Patel | 24 January 1979 | 28 July 1979 | Janata Party |
| - | Yashwantrao Chavan | 28 July 1979 | 14 January 1980 | INC |
| 15 | Giani Zail Singh | 14 January 1980 | 22 June 1982 | INC |
| 16 | Ramaswamy Venkataraman | 22 June 1982 | 2 September 1982 | INC |
| 17 | Prakash Chandra Sethi | 2 September 1982 | 19 July 1984 | INC |
| 18 | P. V. Narasimha Rao | 19 July 1984 | 31 December 1984 | INC |
| 19 | Shankarrao Chavan | 31 December 1984 | 12 March 1986 | INC |
| - | P. V. Narasimha Rao | 12 March 1986 | 12 May 1986 | INC |
| 20 | Buta Singh | 12 May 1986 | 2 December 1989 | INC |
| 21 | Mufti Mohammad Sayeed | 2 December 1989 | 10 November 1990 | Janata Dal |
| 22 | Chandra Shekhar | 10 November 1990 | 21 June 1991 | Samajwadi Janata Party |
| - | Shankarrao Chavan | 21 June 1991 | 16 May 1996 | INC |
| 23 | Murli Manohar Joshi | 16 May 1996 | 1 June 1996 | BJP |
| 24 | H. D. Deve Gowda | 1 June 1996 | 29 June 1996 | Janata Dal |
| 25 | Indrajit Gupta | 29 June 1996 | 19 March 1998 | Communist Party of India |
| 26 | Lal Krishna Advani | 19 March 1998 | 22 May 2004 | BJP |
| 27 | Shivraj Patil | 22 May 2004 | 30 November 2008 | INC |
| 28 | P. Chidambaram | 30 November 2008 | 31 July 2012 | INC |
| 29 | Sushilkumar Shinde | 31 July 2012 | 26 May 2014 | INC |
| 30 | Rajnath Singh | 26 May 2014 | 30 May 2019 | BJP |
| 31 | Amit Shah | 30 May 2019 | Incumbent | BJP |
Longest-Serving Home Minister of India
Amit Shah crossed the record of L. K. Advani on 5 August 2025, when he completed 2,258 days in office. That made him the longest-serving Home Minister in the history of independent India. L. K. Advani held the record for more than two decades, with a continuous run of 6 years and 64 days from 19 March 1998 to 22 May 2004. Amit Shah has now crossed 7 years in the post, which is the longest continuous term so far.
Here are the top names by the length of their time in the Home Ministry:
- Amit Shah, BJP, has the longest continuous term of more than 7 years since 30 May 2019, and he crossed the all-time record on 5 August 2025.
- L. K. Advani, BJP, served 6 years and 64 days without a break from 19 March 1998 to 22 May 2004, and he also held the Deputy Prime Minister post from June 2002.
- G. B. Pant, INC, worked for 6 years and 56 days from 10 January 1955, and he was in office till his death in 1961.
- Shankarrao Chavan, INC, comes next with a total of 6 years and 36 days across his different terms, including a long run from 21 June 1991 to 16 May 1996.
- Rajnath Singh, BJP, served 5 years and 4 days from 26 May 2014 to 30 May 2019 in the first Modi government.
Ministers of State for Home Affairs
Home Minister is helped by Ministers of State in running the ministry. In the current setup, Nityanand Rai has been the Minister of State for Home Affairs since 9 June 2024, and Bandi Sanjay Kumar is the other Minister of State for Home Affairs. Kiren Rijiju held this post from 2014 to 2019, and G. Kishan Reddy along with Ajay Mishra Teni also worked as Ministers of State in the second Modi government.
How to Check Home Minister Details on Official Website
Ministry of Home Affairs keeps the profile of the Union Home Minister and other ministers on its official portal. Anyone can open the site and read the details without any login or fee.
STEP 1 - Open the official Ministry of Home Affairs website at mha.gov.in on a phone or computer.
STEP 2 - Go to the 'About Us' menu on the top of the homepage and pick the 'Meet the Minister' option from the list.
STEP 3 - The page shows the name, photo and profile of the Union Home Minister along with the details of the Ministers of State for Home Affairs.
STEP 4 - For the older names and their term dates, use the full table given above on this page, which covers every Home Minister from 1947 till 2026.
Related Lists
If you are reading about the Home Minister list, these other government lists on the site may also help you. Each one carries the full names, terms and party details in the same simple format.
- List of Prime Ministers of India from 1947 till now, with tenure and party name.
- Presidents of India list from 1950 to the present, including the current President.
- Vice Presidents of India list from 1952 onwards with term dates.
- Finance Ministers of India list from 1946 to 2026 with tenure and party.
- Secretaries to Government of India ministry wise list for 2026.