First Nehru ministry

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.

First Jawaharlal Nehru ministry
1st ministry of the Dominion of India and later the Republic of India
The cabinet of India on 31 January 1950, along with the newly appointed President Rajendra Prasad. (L to R sitting) B. R. Ambedkar, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, Sardar Baldev Singh, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Vallabhbhai Patel, John Mathai, Jagjivan Ram, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and S. P. Mukherjee. (L to R standing) Khurshed Lal, R. R. Diwakar, Mohanlal Saksena, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, N.V. Gadgil, K. C. Neogy, Jairamdas Daulatram, K. Santhanam, Satya Narayan Sinha and B. V. Keskar
Date formed	15 August 1947 (1947-08-15)
Date dissolved	15 April 1952 (1952-04-15)
People and organisations
President	Rajendra Prasad (1950–52)
Governor-General	The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma (1947–48) Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1948–50)
Prime minister	Jawaharlal Nehru
Deputy Prime minister	Vallabhbhai Patel (until 15 December 1950)
Member party	Indian National Congress
Status in legislature	Majority 208 / 299
Opposition party	None
Opposition leader	None
History
Election	1945 Indian general election
Outgoing election	1951 Indian general election
Legislature terms	4 years and 8 months
Predecessor	Interim
Successor	Second 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

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

• ^† Died in office
• ^RES Resigned

Portfolio	Minister	Took office	Left office	Party
Prime Minister Minister of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations Minister of Scientific Research	Jawaharlal Nehru	15 August 1947	Second Nehru ministry		INC
Deputy Prime Minister	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel	15 August 1947	15 December 1950[†]		INC
Minister of Home Affairs and States	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel	15 August 1947	15 December 1950[†]		INC
	C. Rajagopalachari[5]	26 December 1950	25 October 1951[RES]		INC
	Kailash Nath Katju	1951	Second Nehru ministry		INC
Minister of Information and Broadcasting	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel	15 August 1947	1949		INC
	R. R. Diwakar[6]	1949	15 April 1952		INC
Minister of Finance	R. K. Shanmukham Chetty	15 August 1947	1948		Justice Party
	John Matthai	6 May 1950	1950[RES]		Independent
	C. D. Deshmukh	1950	Second Nehru ministry		INC
Minister of Law and Justice	B. R. Ambedkar[5]	15 August 1947	6 October 1951[RES]		SCF
Minister of Defence	Baldev Singh	15 August 1947	Second Nehru ministry		Panthic Party
Minister of Railways and Minister of Transport	John Matthai	15 August 1947	22 September 1948		INC
	N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar	22 September 1948	Second Nehru ministry		INC
Minister of Education	Maulana Abul Kalam Azad	15 August 1947	Second Nehru ministry		INC
Minister of Food and Agriculture	Rajendra Prasad	15 August 1947	14 Jan 1948		INC
	Jairamdas Daulatram	19 Jan 1948	13 May 1950[RES]		INC
Minister of Industries and Supplies	Syama Prasad Mukherjee	15 August 1947	6 April 1950[RES]		Hindu Mahasabha
	Harekrushna Mahatab	13 May 1950	26 December 1950[RES]		INC
Minister of Labour	Jagjivan Ram	15 August 1947	15 April 1952		INC
Minister of Commerce	Cooverji Hormusji Bhabha	15 August 1947	15 April 1952		Independent
Minister of Communications	Rafi Ahmed Kidwai	15 August 1947	15 April 1952		INC
Minister of Health	Amrit Kaur	15 August 1947	15 April 1952		INC
Minister of Works, Minister ofMines and Power	Narhar Vishnu Gadgil	15 August 1947	15 April 1952		INC
Minister of Relief and Rehabilitation	K. C. Neogy	15 August 1947	April 1950[RES]		INC
Minister without portfolio	N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar[7]	15 August 1947	22 September 1948		INC
	Mohanlal Saxena	15 August 1947	15 April 1952		INC

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. Krishna, Ananth V. (2011). India Since Independence: Making Sense Of Indian Politics. India: Pearson Education India. pp. 34–36. ISBN 9788131734650. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
2. Ramachandra Guha, "India After Gandhi", Picador India, 2007. ISBN 978-0-330-39610-3
3. "The New Cabinet". Hindustan Times. 15 August 1947. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
4. "New Cabinet of India". The Times of India. 15 August 1947. p. 1. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
5. Sidin Vadukut (8 November 2014). "Déjà View | The Chetty Affair | Mint". Livemint.com. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
6. "Rajya Sabha Members, Biographical Sketches, 1952 – 2003: D" (PDF).
7. "10 facts about Article 370 that you need to know – Elections News". Indiatoday.intoday.in. Retrieved 19 April 2022.

Further reading

• Josy Joseph (5 June 2008) Star wars in Nehru cabinet – DNA