Minister of Home Affairs (India) facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Minister of Home Affairs
Flag of India
Emblem of India
Incumbent Amit Shah since 31 May 2019 (2019-05-31)
Ministry of Home Affairs
Abbreviation	MHA
Member of	Cabinet of India Cabinet Committee on Security
Reports to	President of India Prime Minister of India Parliament of India
Appointer	President of India on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of India
Formation	1947 (1947)
First holder	Vallabhbhai Patel
Deputy	Minister of State for Home Affairs

The Minister of Home Affairs (often called the Home Minister) is a very important job in the Government of India. This person leads the Ministry of Home Affairs. Their main job is to keep India safe and secure inside its borders. They are in charge of the country's large police force. Sometimes, other ministers, like the Minister of State for Home Affairs, help them.

What is the Home Minister's Job?
A Look at Important Home Ministers
- Prime Ministers Who Were Also Home Ministers
Cabinet Ministers of Home Affairs
Images for kids

What is the Home Minister's Job?

The Home Minister is one of the most senior members of the Union Cabinet. This means they are part of a small group of top government leaders. Since India became independent, the Home Minister has been seen as the second most important position after the Prime Minister.

Many Home Ministers have also held the extra job of Deputy Prime Minister. This shows how important the role is. Three Home Ministers have even gone on to become the Prime Minister of India. These were Lal Bahadur Shastri, Charan Singh, and P. V. Narasimha Rao.

A Look at Important Home Ministers

India's first Home Minister was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He was a very strong leader. L. K. Advani held the job for the longest time, from 1998 to 2004. This was a continuous period of over six years.

P. Chidambaram is special because he served as both a junior minister (Minister of State) and later as the main Home Minister. He was a junior minister from 1986 to 1989. Then, he became the Home Minister from 2008 to 2012. The current Home Minister is Amit Shah from the Bharatiya Janata Party. He took office on May 31, 2019. He followed Rajnath Singh in this role.

Prime Ministers Who Were Also Home Ministers

Sometimes, the Prime Minister also took on the role of Home Minister for a short time. This happened when the position was empty or needed a temporary leader. For example, Jawaharlal Nehru was Home Minister briefly in 1950. Indira Gandhi also served as Home Minister for a short period in 1966. Other Prime Ministers like Morarji Desai, Chandra Shekhar, and H. D. Deve Gowda also held this job while they were Prime Minister.

Cabinet Ministers of Home Affairs

This table shows the people who have served as the main Minister of Home Affairs in India.

No.	Portrait	Minister (birth-death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
No.	Portrait	Minister (birth-death) Constituency	From	To	Period	Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
1		Vallabhbhai Patel (1875–1950) MCA for Bombay (Deputy Prime Minister)	15 August 1947	12 December 1950 (died in office)	3 years, 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
4		Kailash Nath Katju (1887–1968) MP for Mandsaur	13 May 1952	10 January 1955	3 years, 66 days		Nehru II
5		Govind Ballabh Pant (1887–1961) Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh	10 January 1955	17 April 1957	6 years, 56 days		Nehru II
5			17 April 1957	7 March 1961 (died in office)	6 years, 56 days		Nehru III
6		Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904–1966) MP for Allahabad	26 February 1961	10 April 1962	2 years, 187 days		Nehru III
6		Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904–1966) MP for Allahabad	2 April 1962	1 September 1963	2 years, 187 days		Nehru IV
7		Gulzarilal Nanda (1898–1998) MP for Sabarkantha (Prime Minister from 27 May – 9 June 1964; and 11 – 24 January 1966)	1 September 1963	27 May 1964	3 years, 69 days		Nehru IV
			27 May 1964	9 June 1964			Nanda I		Self
			9 June 1964	11 January 1966			Shastri		Lal Bahadur Shastri
			11 January 1966	24 January 1966			Nanda II		Self
			24 January 1966	9 November 1966			Indira I		Indira Gandhi
8		Indira Gandhi (1917–1984) Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh (Prime Minister)	9 November 1966	13 November 1966	4 days
9		Yashwantrao Chavan (1913–1984) MP for Nashik	13 November 1966	13 March 1967	3 years, 226 days
9		Yashwantrao Chavan (1913–1984) MP for Nashik	13 March 1967	27 June 1970	3 years, 226 days	Indian National Congress (R)	Indira II
(8)		Indira Gandhi (1917–1984) MP for Rae Bareli (Prime Minister)	27 June 1970	13 March 1971	2 years, 223 days		Indira II
(8)			13 March 1971	5 February 1973	2 years, 223 days		Indira III
10		Uma Shankar Dikshit (1901–1991) Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh	5 February 1973	10 October 1974	1 year, 247 days
11		Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (1909–1994) Rajya Sabha MP for Andhra Pradesh	10 October 1974	24 March 1977	2 years, 165 days
12		Charan Singh (1902–1987) MP for Baghpat	24 March 1977	1 July 1978	1 year, 99 days	Janata Party	Desai		Morarji Desai
13		Morarji Desai (1896–1995) MP for Surat (Prime Minister)	1 July 1978	24 January 1979	207 days
14		Hirubhai M. Patel (1904–1993) MP for Sabarkantha	24 January 1979	28 July 1979	185 days
(9)		Yashwantrao Chavan (1913–1984) MP for Satara (Deputy Prime Minister)	28 July 1979	14 January 1980	170 days	Janata Party (Secular)	Charan		Charan Singh
15		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
16		Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1910–2009) MP for Chennai South	22 June 1982	2 September 1982	72 days
17		Prakash Chandra Sethi (1919–1996) MP for Indore	2 September 1982	19 July 1984	1 year, 321 days
18		P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP for Hanamkonda	19 July 1984	31 October 1984	165 days
18		P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP for Hanamkonda	31 October 1984	31 December 1984	165 days		Rajiv I		Rajiv Gandhi
19		Shankarrao Chavan (1920–2004) MP for Nanded	31 December 1984	12 March 1986	1 year, 71 days		Rajiv II
(18)		P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP for Hanamkonda	12 March 1986	12 May 1986	61 days
20		Buta Singh (1934–2021) MP for Jalore	12 May 1986	2 December 1989	3 years, 204 days
21		Mufti Mohammad Sayeed (1936–2016) MP for Muzaffarnagar	2 December 1989	10 November 1990	1 year, 8 days	Janata Dal	Vishwanath		Vishwanath Pratap Singh
22		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
(19)		Shankarrao Chavan (1920–2004) Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra	21 June 1991	16 May 1996	4 years, 330 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Rao		P. V. Narasimha Rao
23		Murli Manohar Joshi (born 1934) MP for Allahabad	16 May 1996	1 June 1996	16 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee I		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
24		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
25		Indrajit Gupta (1919–2001) MP for Midnapore	29 June 1996	21 April 1997	1 year, 263 days	Communist Party of India	Deve Gowda		H. D. Deve Gowda
25		Indrajit Gupta (1919–2001) MP for Midnapore	21 April 1997	19 March 1998	1 year, 263 days	Communist Party of India	Gujral		Inder Kumar Gujral
26		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
26			13 October 1999	22 May 2004	6 years, 64 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee III		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
27		Shivraj Patil (born 1935) Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra	23 May 2004	30 November 2008	4 years, 191 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
28		P. Chidambaram (born 1945) MP for Sivaganga	30 November 2008	22 May 2009	3 years, 244 days		Manmohan I
28		P. Chidambaram (born 1945) MP for Sivaganga	23 May 2009	31 July 2012	3 years, 244 days		Manmohan II
29		Sushilkumar Shinde (born 1941) MP for Solapur	31 July 2012	26 May 2014	1 year, 299 days		Manmohan II
30		Rajnath Singh (born 1951) MP for Lucknow	27 May 2014	30 May 2019	5 years, 3 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi I		Narendra Modi
31		Amit Shah (born 1964) MP for Gandhinagar	31 May 2019	9 June 2024	6 years, 13 days		Modi II
31		Amit Shah (born 1964) MP for Gandhinagar	10 June 2024	Incumbent	6 years, 13 days		Modi III

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