Minister of Home Affairs (India)

The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the home minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the home minister is the maintenance of the internal security of India; the country's large police force comes under its jurisdiction. Occasionally, they are assisted by the minister of state of home affairs and the lower-ranked deputy minister of home affairs.

Minister of Home Affairs
Gr̥ha Mantrī
Emblem of India
Flag 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

Ever since the time of independent India's first home minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the office has been seen as second in seniority only to the prime minister in the union cabinet. Like Patel, several home ministers have since held the additional portfolio of deputy prime minister. As of February 2020, three home ministers have gone on to become the prime minister: Lal Bahadur Shastri, Charan Singh and P. V. Narasimha Rao. L.K. Advani, serving from 19 March 1998 to 22 May 2004, has held the office of the home minister for the longest continuous period, as of February 2020.

On several occasions, the prime minister also held the additional portfolio of the minister of home affairs. Jawaharlal Nehru briefly acted as home minister in 1950 following the demise of Vallabhbhai Patel, Indira Gandhi briefly served as home minister in 1966 following resignation of Gulzarilal Nanda, Morarji Desai held the portfolio from 1978 till 1979, Chandra Shekhar throughout his prime ministerial tenure and H. D. Deve Gowda briefly served as home minister in 1996.

P. Chidambaram who served as the home minister from 2008 till 2012 has the rare distinction of serving as both cabinet minister and minister of state in the ministry. He served as minister of state from 1986 till 1989. The current minister is Amit Shah of the Bharatiya Janata Party who has been in office since 31 May 2019 and succeeded his party colleague Rajnath Singh as the home minister.

Cabinet ministers

No.	Portrait		Minister (birth-death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
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
				13 May 1952	10 January 1955			Nehru II
5			Govind Ballabh Pant (1887–1961) Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh	10 January 1955	17 April 1957	6 years, 56 days
				17 April 1957	7 March 1961 (died in office)			Nehru III
6			Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904–1966) MP for Allahabad	8 March 1961	10 April 1962	2 years, 187 days
				11 April 1962	29 August 1963			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
				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
				13 March 1967	27 June 1970		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
				13 March 1971	5 February 1973			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
				31 October 1984	31 December 1984			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
				21 April 1997	19 March 1998			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
				13 October 1999	22 May 2004			Vajpayee III
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
				23 May 2009	31 July 2012			Manmohan II
29			Sushilkumar Shinde (born 1941) MP for Solapur	31 July 2012	26 May 2014	1 year, 299 days
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	5 years, 344 days		Modi II
				10 June 2024	Incumbent			Modi III

Ministers of state

No.	Portrait		Minister (birth-death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
1			Rustom Khurshedji Sidhwa (1882–1957)	11 October 1951	13 May 1952	215 days	Indian National Congress	Nehru I		Jawaharlal Nehru
2			B. N. Datar (1894–1963) MP for Belgaum	14 February 1956	17 April 1957	6 years, 364 days		Nehru II
				17 April 1957	10 April 1962			Nehru III
				16 April 1962	13 February 1963			Nehru IV
3			Ramchandra Martand Hajarnavis (1908–1976) MP for Bhandara	22 February 1963	10 March 1964	1 year, 17 days
4			Jaisukhlal Hathi (1909–1982) MP for Gujarat (Rajya Sabha)	10 March 1964	27 May 1964	2 years, 248 days
				27 May 1964	9 June 1964			Nanda I		Gulzarilal Nanda
				9 June 1964	11 January 1966			Shastri		Lal Bahadur Shastri
				11 January 1966	24 January 1966			Nanda II		Gulzarilal Nanda
				24 January 1966	13 November 1966			Indira I		Indira Gandhi
5			Vidya Charan Shukla (1929–2013) MP for Mahasamund	13 March 1967	27 June 1970	3 years, 106 days
6			Ram Niwas Mirdha (1924–2010) MP for Rajasthan (Rajya Sabha) (Personnel and Administrative Reforms)	27 June 1970	18 March 1971	264 days	Indian National Congress (R)
7			K. C. Pant (1931–2012) MP for Nainital	27 June 1970	18 March 1971	3 years, 135 days
				18 March 1971	9 November 1973			Indira II
8			Om Mehta (1927–1995) MP for Jammu and Kashmir (Personnel and Administrative Reforms)	10 October 1974	24 March 1977	2 years, 165 days
9			S. D. Patil MP for Erandol	14 August 1977	28 July 1979	1 year, 348 days	Janata Party	Desai		Morarji Desai
10			Dhanik Lal Mandal (1932–2022) MP for Jhanjharpur	14 August 1977	15 July 1979	2 years, 153 days
				30 July 1979	14 January 1980		Janata Party (Secular)	Charan		Charan Singh
11			Pendekanti Venkatasubbaiah (1921–1993) MP for Nandyal	14 January 1980	31 October 1984	4 years, 291 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Indira III		Indira Gandhi
12			Yogendra Makwana (born 1933) MP for Gujarat (Rajya Sabha)	14 January 1980	15 January 1982	2 years, 1 day
13			Nihar Ranjan Laskar (born 1932) MP for Karimganj	15 January 1982	7 February 1984	2 years, 23 days
14			Ram Dulari Sinha (1922–1994) MP for Sheohar	7 February 1984	31 October 1984	267 days
(11)			Pendekanti Venkatasubbaiah (1921–1993) MP for Nandyal	4 November 1984	31 December 1984	57 days		Rajiv I		Rajiv Gandhi
(14)			Ram Dulari Sinha (1922–1994) MP for Sheohar	4 November 1984	31 December 1984	325 days
				31 December 1984	25 September 1985			Rajiv II
15			Arif Mohammad Khan (born 1951) MP for Bahraich	12 August 1985	25 September 1986	44 days
16			P. A. Sangma (1947–2016) MP for Tura (States)	25 September 1985	20 January 1986	117 days
17			Arun Nehru (1944–2013) MP for Raebareli (Internal Security)
(6)			Ram Niwas Mirdha (1924–2010) MP for Rajasthan (Rajya Sabha)	14 March 1986	14 June 1986	0 days
18			Ghulam Nabi Azad (born 1949) MP for Washim (States)	12 May 1986	22 October 1986	163 days
19			P. Chidambaram (born 1945) MP for Sivaganga	24 June 1986	2 December 1989	3 years, 161 days
20			Chintamani Panigrahi (1922–2000) MP for Bhubaneswar	22 October 1986	25 June 1988	1 year, 247 days
21			Santosh Mohan Dev (1934–2017) MP for Silchar (Internal Security)	25 June 1988	2 December 1989	1 year, 160 days
22			Subodh Kant Sahay (born 1951) MP for Ranchi	23 April 1990	5 November 1990	196 days	Janata Dal	Vishwanath		Vishwanath Pratap Singh
				21 November 1990	21 June 1991	228 days	Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)	Chandra Shekhar		Chandra Shekhar
23			M. M. Jacob (1926–2018) MP for Kerala (Rajya Sabha)	21 June 1991	17 January 1993	1 year, 210 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Rao		P. V. Narasimha Rao
24			Rajesh Pilot (1945–2000) MP for Dausa (Internal Security)	18 January 1993	15 September 1995	2 years, 240 days
25			P. M. Sayeed (1941–2005) MP for Lakshadweep	19 January 1993		2 years, 239 days
26			Syed Sibtey Razi (1939–2022) MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha)	15 September 1995	16 May 1996	244 days
27			Ram Lal Rahi (1934–2020) MP for Misrikh
28			Meijinlung Kamson (born 1939) MP for Outer Manipur
29			Mohammed Taslimuddin (1943–2017) MP for Kishanganj	1 June 1996	9 June 1996	8 days	Janata Dal	Deve Gowda		H. D. Deve Gowda
30			Maqbool Dar (1943–2008) MP for Anantnag	10 July 1996	21 April 1997	285 days
				1 May 1997	19 March 1998	322 days		Gujral		Inder Kumar Gujral
31			Ram Naik (born 1934) MP for Mumbai North	5 May 1999	13 October 1999	161 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee II		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
32			I. D. Swami (1929–2019) MP for Karnal	13 October 1999	22 May 2004	4 years, 222 days		Vajpayee III
33			C. Vidyasagar Rao (born 1941) MP for Karimnagar	13 October 1999	29 January 2003	3 years, 108 days
34			Harin Pathak (born 1947) MP for Ahmedabad East	29 January 2003	22 May 2004	1 year, 114 days
35			Chinmayanand Swami (born 1947) MP for Jaunpur	24 May 2003	22 May 2004	364 days
36			Manikrao Hodlya Gavit (1934–2022) MP for Nandurbar	23 May 2004	6 April 2007	2 years, 318 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
37			Shriprakash Jaiswal (born 1944) MP for Kanpur	23 May 2004	22 May 2009	4 years, 364 days
38			S. Regupathy (born 1950) MP for Pudukkottai	23 May 2004	15 May 2007	2 years, 357 days	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
38			V. Radhika Selvi (born 1976) MP for Tiruchendur	18 May 2007	22 May 2009	2 years, 4 days
39			Shakeel Ahmad (born 1956) MP for Madhubani	6 April 2008	22 May 2009	1 year, 46 days	Indian National Congress
40			Mullappally Ramachandran (born 1944) MP for Vatakara	28 May 2009	26 May 2014	4 years, 363 days		Manmohan II
41			Ajay Maken (born 1964) MP for New Delhi	28 May 2009	19 January 2011	1 year, 236 days
42			Gurudas Kamat (1954–2018) MP for Mumbai North West	19 January 2011	12 July 2011	174 days
43			Jitendra Singh (born 1971) MP for Alwar	12 July 2011	28 October 2012	1 year, 108 days
44			R. P. N. Singh (born 1964) MP for Kushi Nagar	28 October 2012	26 May 2014	1 year, 210 days
45			Kiren Rijiju (born 1971) MP for Arunachal West	26 May 2014	30 May 2019	5 years, 4 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi I		Narendra Modi
46			Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary (born 1954) MP for Banaskantha	9 November 2014	5 July 2016	1 year, 239 days
47			Hansraj Gangaram Ahir (born 1954) MP for Chandrapur	5 July 2016	30 May 2019	2 years, 329 days
48			G. Kishan Reddy (born 1964) MP for Secunderabad	31 May 2019	7 July 2021	2 years, 37 days		Modi II
49			Nityanand Rai (born 1966) MP for Ujiarpur	31 May 2019	9 June 2024	5 years, 9 days
50			Ajay Mishra Teni (born 1960) MP for Kheri	7 July 2021	9 June 2024	2 years, 338 days
51			Nisith Pramanik (born 1986) MP for Cooch Behar
(49)			Nityanand Rai (born 1966) MP for Ujiarpur	10 June 2024	Incumbent	334 days		Modi III
52			Bandi Sanjay Kumar (born 1971) MP for Karimnagar

Deputy ministers

No.	Portrait		Minister (birth-death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
1			B. N. Datar (1894–1963) MP for Belgaum North	12 August 1952	14 February 1956	3 years, 186 days	Indian National Congress	Nehru II		Jawaharlal Nehru
2			Violet Alva (1909–1969) MP for Bombay (Rajya Sabha)	23 April 1957	10 April 1962	4 years, 352 days	Indian National Congress	Nehru III
3			Maragatham Chandrasekar (1917–2001) MP for Sriperumbudur	8 May 1962	27 May 1964	2 years, 19 days	Indian National Congress	Nehru IV
4			Lalit Narayan Mishra (1923–1975) MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha)	26 February 1964	27 May 1964	91 days
(3)			Maragatham Chandrasekar (1917–2001) MP for Sriperumbudur	27 May 1964	9 June 1964	13 days		Nanda I		Gulzarilal Nanda
(4)			Lalit Narayan Mishra (1923–1975) MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha)	27 May 1964	9 June 1964	1 year, 242 days
				9 June 1964	11 January 1966			Shastri		Lal Bahadur Shastri
				11 January 1966	24 January 1966			Nanda II		Gulzarilal Nanda
5			Purnendu Sekhar Naskar (1921-1993) MP for Mathurapur	24 January 1966	13 March 1967	1 year, 48 days		Indira I		Indira Gandhi
6			Vidya Charan Shukla (1929–2013) MP for Mahasamund	14 February 1966	13 March 1967	1 year, 27 days
7			K. S. Ramaswamy (1922–2004) MP for Madras (Rajya Sabha)	18 March 1967	18 March 1971	4 years, 0 days		Indira II
8			Fakruddinsab Hussensab Mohsin (1923–1996) MP for Dharwad South	2 May 1971	24 March 1977	5 years, 326 days	Indian National Congress (R)	Indira III		Indira Gandhi
9			Ram Lal Rahi (1934–2020) MP for Misrikh	21 June 1991	15 September 1995	4 years, 86 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Rao		P. V. Narasimha Rao
Position not in use since 1995