Created by Debasish swain
Last edited February 15, 2026


Template:Infobox government cabinet

After power transformation, on 15 August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru assumed office as the first Prime Minister of India and chose fifteen ministers to form the First Nehru ministry.

Background

The Constituent Assembly was set up while India was still under British rule, following negotiations between Indian leaders and members of the 1946 Cabinet Mission to India from the United Kingdom. The provincial assembly elections had been conducted early in 1946. The Constituent Assembly members were elected to it indirectly by the members of these newly elected provincial assemblies, and initially included representatives for those provinces which came to form part of Pakistan, some of which are now within Bangladesh. The Constituent Assembly had 299 representatives, including nine women.

The Interim Government of India was formed on 2 September 1946 from the newly elected Constituent Assembly. The Indian National Congress held a large majority in the Assembly, with 69 percent of all of the seats, while the Muslim League held almost all of the seats reserved in the Assembly for Muslims. There were also some members from smaller parties, such as the Scheduled Caste Federation, the Communist Party of India, and the Unionist Party. In June 1947, the delegations from the provinces of Sindh, East Bengal, Baluchistan, West Punjab, and the North West Frontier Province withdrew, to form the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, meeting in Karachi. On 15 August 1947, the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan became independent nations, and the members of the Constituent Assembly who had not withdrawn to Karachi became India's Parliament. Only 28 members of the Muslim League finally joined the Indian Assembly. Later, 93 members were nominated from the princely states. The Congress thus secured a majority of 82%


Jawaharlal Nehru took charge as the first Prime Minister of India on 15 August 1947, and chose 15 other members for his cabinet. Vallabhbhai Patel served as the first Deputy Prime Minister until his death on 15 December 1950. Lord Mountbatten, and later C. Rajagopalachari, served as Governor-General until 26 January 1950, when Rajendra Prasad was elected as the first President of India.[1] [2]

Cabinet members

File:Lord Mountbatten swears in Jawaharlal Nehru as the first Prime Minister of free India on Aug 15, 1947.jpg
Lord Mountbatten swears in Jawaharlal Nehru as the first Prime Minister of India on 15 August 1947.

There were members from Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Parsi communities represented in India's first ministry. There were two members from the Dalit community represented as well.[3][4] Rajkumari Amrit Kaur was the only female Cabinet minister. The following is a list of the ministers in the first Cabinet.[1]

Key

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Deputy Ministers

S.no Name Period
1. Deputy Minister of Works, Mines and Power Surendranath Buragohain 14 August 1950 26 December 1950 134 days
Deputy Minister of Works, Production and Supply 26 December 1950 13 May 1952 1 year 139 days
2. Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting R. R. Diwakar 7 October 1948 26 January 1950 1 year 111 days
3. Deputy Minister of Finance Mahavir Tyagi 16 February 1951 13 May 1952
4. Minister of State for Railways K. Santhanam 1 October 1948 10 March 1952 3 years, 241 days
Minister of Road Transport and Highways 1 October 1948 17 April 1952 3 years 199 days
5. Deputy Minister of Railways B. V. Keskar 10 March 1952 13 May 1952 64 days
Deputy Minister of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations 7 December 1948 26 January 1950 1 year, 50 days
Deputy Minister of External Affairs 31 January 1950 13 May 1952 2 years, 103 days
6. Deputy Minister of Defence Kumar Shree Himmatsinhji Jadeja 14 August 1950 29 February 1952 1 year, 199 days
7. Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture Mosalikanti Thirumala Rao 21 August 1950 13 May 1952 1 year, 266 days
8. Deputy Minister of Communications Khurshed Lal 1 October 1948 29 January 1951 2 years, 120 days
9. Deputy Minister of Communications Raj Bahadur 29 January 1951 13 May 1952 1 year, 105 days
10. Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry Dattatraya Parashuram Karmarkar August 13 May
11. Deputy Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Satya Narayan Sinha 1 October 1948 26 February 1949 148 days
12. Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Rustom Khurshedji Sidhwa 11 October 1951 13 May 1952 215 days

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 India Since Independence: Making Sense Of Indian Politics{{#if:Krishna|, Krishna}. Pearson Education India(2011). ISBN 9788131734650
  2. Ramachandra Guha, "India After Gandhi", Picador India, 2007. Template:ISBN
  3. The New Cabinet. Hindustan Times(15 August 1947). Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  4. New Cabinet of India. The Times of India(15 August 1947). Retrieved 19 August 2011.

Further reading

Template:First Indian Cabinet Template:Indian federal ministries Template:Jawaharlal Nehru