Minister of Defence (India)
The Minister of Defence (Rakshā Mantrī) is the head of the Ministry of Defence and a high ranking minister of the Government of India. The Defence Minister is one of the most senior offices in the Union Council of Ministers as well as being a high-level minister in the union cabinet. The defence minister additionally serves as President of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, and as Chancellor of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology and of the National Defence University.
| Minister of Defence Rakshā Mantrī | |
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 Ministry of Defence | |
| Style | The Honourable |
| Member of | Union Cabinet |
| Reports to | Prime Minister |
| Appointer | President on the advice of the Prime Minister |
| Term length | 5 years |
| Formation | 15 August 1947 |
| First holder | Baldev Singh |
| Deputy | Ajay Bhatt Minister of State |
| Website | mod |
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They are often assisted by a Minister of State for Defence and less-commonly, the lower-ranked Deputy Minister of Defence.
The first defence minister of independent India was Baldev Singh Chokkar, who served in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet during 1947–52. Rajnath Singh is the current defence minister of India.
Cabinet Ministers
- Key
- † Assassinated or died in office
| Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency |
Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Period | ||||||
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Baldev Singh (1902–1961) MP for Punjab (Constituent Assembly) |
15 August 1947 |
2 April 1952 |
4 years, 272 days | Indian National Congress | Nehru I | Jawaharlal Nehru | |
| 2 April 1952 |
13 May 1952 |
Nehru II | ||||||
 |
N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar (1882–1953) MP for Madras (Rajya Sabha) |
13 May 1952 |
10 February 1953[†] |
273 days | ||||
 |
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) MP for Phulpur (Prime Minister) |
10 February 1953 |
10 January 1955 |
1 year, 334 days | ||||
 |
Kailash Nath Katju (1887–1968) MP for Mandsaur |
10 January 1955 |
30 January 1957 |
2 years, 20 days | ||||
|
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) MP for Phulpur (Prime Minister) |
30 January 1957 |
17 April 1957 |
77 days | ||||
 |
V. K. Krishna Menon (1896–1974) MP for Bombay North |
17 April 1957 |
2 April 1962 |
5 years, 197 days | Nehru III | |||
| 2 April 1962 |
31 October 1962 |
Nehru IV | ||||||
|
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) MP for Phulpur (Prime Minister) |
31 October 1962 |
14 November 1962 |
14 days | ||||
 |
Yashwantrao Chavan (1913–1984) MP for Nashik |
14 November 1962 |
27 May 1964 |
3 years, 364 days | ||||
| 27 May 1964 |
9 June 1964 |
Nanda I | Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) | |||||
| 9 June 1964 |
11 January 1966 |
Shastri | Lal Bahadur Shastri | |||||
| 11 January 1966 |
24 January 1966 |
Nanda II | Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) | |||||
| 24 January 1966 |
13 November 1966 |
Indira I | Indira Gandhi | |||||
 |
Swaran Singh (1907–1994) MP for Jullundur |
13 November 1966 |
27 June 1970 |
3 years, 226 days | ||||
 |
Jagjivan Ram (1908–1986) MP for Sasaram |
27 June 1970 |
15 March 1971 |
4 years, 105 days | ||||
| 15 March 1971 |
10 October 1974 |
Indira II | ||||||
|
Swaran Singh (1907–1994) MP for Jullundur |
10 October 1974 |
1 December 1975 |
1 year, 52 days | ||||
 |
Indira Gandhi (1917–1984) MP for Rae Bareli (Prime Minister) |
1 December 1975 |
20 December 1975 |
19 days | ||||
 |
Bansi Lal (1927–2006) MP for Punjab (Rajya Sabha) |
21 December 1975 |
24 March 1977 |
1 year, 93 days | ||||
|
Jagjivan Ram (1908–1986) MP for Sasaram (Deputy Prime Minister from 24 January 1979) |
24 March 1977 |
28 July 1979 |
2 years, 126 days | Janata Party | Desai | Morarji Desai | |
 |
Chidambaram Subramaniam (1910–2000) MP for Palani |
28 July 1979 |
14 January 1980 |
170 days | Indian National Congress (Urs) | Charan Singh | Charan Singh | |
|
Indira Gandhi (1917–1984) MP for Medak (Prime Minister) |
14 January 1980 |
15 January 1982 |
2 years, 1 day | Indian National Congress | Indira III | Indira Gandhi | |
 |
Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1910–2009) MP for Chennai South |
15 January 1982 |
2 August 1984 |
2 years, 200 days | ||||
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Shankarrao Chavan (1920–2004) MP for Nanded |
2 August 1984 |
31 October 1984 |
151 days | ||||
| 31 October 1984 |
31 December 1984 |
Rajiv I | Rajiv Gandhi | |||||
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P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP for Ramtek |
31 December 1984 |
25 September 1985 |
268 days | Rajiv II | |||
 |
Rajiv Gandhi (1944–1991) MP for Amethi (Prime Minister) |
25 September 1985 |
24 January 1987 |
1 year, 121 days | ||||
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V. P. Singh (1931–2008) MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha) |
24 January 1987 |
12 April 1987 |
78 days | ||||
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K. C. Pant (1931–2012) MP for New Delhi |
12 April 1987 |
2 December 1989 |
2 years, 234 days | ||||
|
V. P. Singh (1931–2008) MP for Fatehpur (Prime Minister) |
2 December 1989 |
10 November 1990 |
343 days | Janata Dal | V. P. Singh | V. P. Singh | |
 |
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 | |
|
P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) Unelected (Prime Minister) |
21 June 1991 |
26 June 1991 |
5 days | Indian National Congress | Rao | P. V. Narasimha Rao | |
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Sharad Pawar (born 1940) MP for Baramati |
26 June 1991 |
6 March 1993 |
1 year, 253 days | ||||
|
P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP for Nandyal (Prime Minister) |
6 March 1993 |
16 May 1996 |
3 years, 71 days | ||||
| Pramod Mahajan (1949–2006) MP for Mumbai North East |
16 May 1996 |
1 June 1996 |
16 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Vajpayee I | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | ||
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Mulayam Singh Yadav (1939–2022) MP for Mainpuri |
1 June 1996 |
21 April 1997 |
1 year, 290 days | Samajwadi Party | Deve Gowda | H. D. Deve Gowda | |
| 21 April 1997 |
18 March 1998 |
Gujral | Inder Kumar Gujral | |||||
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George Fernandes (1930–2019) MP for Nalanda |
19 March 1998 |
13 October 1999 |
2 years, 101 days | Janata Dal (United) | Vajpayee II | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | |
| 13 October 1999 |
16 March 2001 |
Vajpayee III | ||||||
 |
Jaswant Singh (1938–2020) MP for Rajasthan (Rajya Sabha) |
16 March 2001 |
21 October 2001 |
219 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | |||
|
George Fernandes (1930–2019) MP for Nalanda |
21 October 2001 |
22 May 2004 |
2 years, 214 days | Janata Dal (United) | |||
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Pranab Mukherjee (1935–2020) MP for Jangipur |
23 May 2004 |
26 October 2006 |
2 years, 156 days | Indian National Congress | Manmohan I | Manmohan Singh | |
 |
A. K. Antony (born 1940) MP for Kerala (Rajya Sabha) |
26 October 2006 |
22 May 2009 |
7 years, 212 days | ||||
| 23 May 2009 |
26 May 2014 |
Manmohan II | ||||||
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Arun Jaitley (1952–2019) MP for Gujarat (Rajya Sabha) |
27 May 2014 |
9 November 2014 |
166 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi I | Narendra Modi | |
 |
Manohar Parrikar (1955–2019) MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha) |
9 November 2014 |
13 March 2017 |
2 years, 124 days | ||||
|
Arun Jaitley (1952–2019) MP for Gujarat (Rajya Sabha) |
13 March 2017 |
3 September 2017 |
174 days | ||||
 |
Nirmala Sitharaman (born 1959) MP for Karnataka (Rajya Sabha) |
3 September 2017 |
30 May 2019 |
1 year, 269 days | ||||
 |
Rajnath Singh (born 1951) MP for Lucknow |
31 May 2019 |
Incumbent | 4 years, 149 days | Modi II | |||
Ministers of State
| Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency |
Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Period | ||||||
| Bachi Singh Rawat (1949–2021) MP for Almora |
13 October 1999 |
22 November 1999 |
40 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Vajpayee III | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | ||
 |
Harin Pathak (born 1947) MP for Ahmedabad East |
13 October 1999 |
14 November 2000 |
1 year, 32 days | ||||
 |
Krishnam Raju (1940–2022) MP for Narasapuram |
22 July 2001 |
1 July 2002 |
344 days | ||||
|
Harin Pathak (born 1947) MP for Ahmedabad East |
15 October 2001 |
29 January 2003 |
1 year, 106 days | ||||
| Chaman Lal Gupta (1934–2021) MP for Udhampur |
1 July 2002 |
22 May 2004 |
1 year, 326 days | |||||
 |
O. Rajagopal (born 1929) MP for Madhya Pradesh (Rajya Sabha) |
29 January 2003 |
22 May 2004 |
114 days | ||||
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Bijoy Krishna Handique (1934–2015) MP for Jorhat |
23 May 2004 |
29 January 2006 |
1 year, 251 days | Indian National Congress | Manmohan I | Manmohan Singh | |
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Rao Inderjit Singh (born 1951) MP for Mahendragarh |
29 January 2006 |
22 May 2009 |
3 years, 113 days | ||||
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M. M. Pallam Raju (born 1962) MP for Kakinada |
29 January 2006 |
22 May 2009 |
6 years, 273 days | ||||
| 28 May 2009 |
28 October 2012 |
Manmohan II | ||||||
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Jitin Prasada (born 1973) MP for Dhaurahra |
28 October 2012 |
29 October 2012 |
1 day | ||||
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Lalchand Kataria (born 1968) MP for Jaipur Rural |
28 October 2012 |
31 October 2012 |
3 days | ||||
 |
Jitendra Singh (born 1971) MP for Alwar |
28 October 2012 |
26 May 2014 |
1 year, 180 days | ||||
|
Rao Inderjit Singh (born 1951) MP for Gurgaon |
27 May 2014 |
5 July 2016 |
2 years, 39 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi I | Narendra Modi | |
_was_laid_at_IIT_Bombay_premises_by_Minister_of_State_for_Defence%252C_Dr._Subhash_Bhamre.jpg.webp){kind=small} |
Subhash Bhamre (born 1953) MP for Dhule |
5 July 2016 |
30 May 2019 |
2 years, 329 days | ||||
 |
Shripad Yesso Naik (born 1952) MP for North Goa |
31 May 2019 |
7 July 2021 |
2 years, 37 days | Modi II | |||
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Ajay Bhatt (born 1961) MP for Nainital–Udhamsingh Nagar |
7 July 2021 |
Incumbent | 2 years, 112 days | ||||
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ministers of Defence of India.
References
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- "Former Defence Ministers of State". Ministry of Defence GOI. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
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