The following is a list of the longest-serving ministers of the

Union Council of Ministers The Union Council of Ministers Article 58 of the ''Constitution of India'' is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which is responsible for being the senior decision making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, listing only those individuals who served at least 10 years in Union ministries. As ministers often hold multiple portfolios during their respective tenures, only their final portfolios and the periods they served in their ranks are displayed here. Party affiliations are those held during the tenure (s) in office of each respective officeholder. Since the first Union Council was established in 1947, its members have been categorised into the following five ranks (in descending order): *The

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

*The

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

(if one has been appointed) *

Cabinet Ministers A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...

Ministers of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

(without membership of the Union Cabinet), in the following sub-categories: **Ministers of State with Cabinet rank **Ministers of State with Independent Charge of ministries/portfolios **Ministers of State, reporting to the Prime Minister or to a Cabinet Minister *Deputy Ministers (equivalent to Parliamentary Secretaries). Deputy Ministers have not been appointed since 1993. Ministers in the first three ranks comprise the Union Cabinet, which is the supreme decision-making body of the nation per Article 75 of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

. Regardless of rank, any member of the Union Council is a Union minister, per the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers Act 1952. Died in office

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Union Council of Ministers of India Parliament of India Union ministers of India Cabinet of India

Council of Ministers of India Lists of people by time in office Lists of political office-holders in India Lists of Indian politicians