List of female deputy chief ministers in India

The deputy chief minister is the deputy to the chief minister, who is the chief executive of the Indian state. The governor appoints the deputy chief minister, who is the second-highest-ranking member in the council of ministers of the respective state. A deputy chief minister also holds a cabinet portfolio in the state ministry. In the legislative assembly system of government, the deputy chief minister is treated as the "first among equals" in the cabinet; the position of deputy chief minister is used to govern the state with the support of a single party member, to bring political stability and strength within a coalition government, or in times of state emergency when a proper chain of command is necessary. On multiple occasions, proposals have arisen to make the post permanent, but without result. The same goes for the post of deputy prime minister at the national level. Given that she has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.^[1]

Since 1996, India has had seven female deputy chief ministers. The first woman to become deputy chief minister was Rajinder Kaur Bhattal of the Indian National Congress party, who was sworn in on 6 August 1996 as deputy chief minister of Punjab. She is also the only female deputy chief minister who served two non-consecutive terms. Jamuna Devi was the longest-serving female deputy chief minister. Pamula Pushpa Sreevani of the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party is the youngest and first member of the state party to become the female deputy chief minister. Only 6 states in India had female deputy chief ministers out of 28 states and 3 union territories that have legislature systems.

Diya Kumari of Rajasthan and Pravati Parida of Odisha are the female incumbent deputy chief ministers in India.

Chronological list

Key

* Incumbent Chief Minister
^† Assassinated or died in office

^RES Resigned
^NC Resigned following a no-confidence motion

BJP (3) INC (3) YSRCP (1)
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			State/Union territory	Political party^[a]	Chief Minister
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Assumed office	Left office	Time in office	State/Union territory	Political party^[a]	Chief Minister
1		Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (1945–)	6 August 1996	21 November 1996	3 years, 161 days	Punjab	Indian National Congress	Harcharan Singh Brar
1		Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (1945–)	6 January 2004	1 March 2007	3 years, 161 days	Punjab		Amarinder Singh
2		Jamuna Devi (1929–2010)	1 December 1998	8 December 2003	5 years, 7 days	Madhya Pradesh		Digvijaya Singh
3		Kamla Beniwal (1927–2024)	25 January 2003	8 December 2003	317 days	Rajasthan		Ashok Gehlot
4		Pamula Pushpa Sreevani (1986–)	8 June 2019	7 April 2022	2 years, 303 days	Andhra Pradesh	Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party	Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy
5		Renu Devi (1958–)	16 November 2020	9 August 2022	1 year, 266 days	Bihar	Bharatiya Janata Party	Nitish Kumar
6		Diya Kumari* (1971–)	15 December 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 19 days	Rajasthan		Bhajan Lal Sharma
7		Pravati Parida* (1967–)	12 June 2024	Incumbent	205 days	Odisha		Mohan Charan Majhi

Statistics

List of female deputy chief ministers by length of term

No.	Name	Party	Length of term
No.	Name	Party	Longest continuous term	Total years of deputy chief ministership
1	Jamuna Devi	INC	5 years, 7 days	5 years, 7 days
2	Rajinder Kaur Bhattal	INC	3 years, 54 days	3 years, 161 days
3	Pamula Pushpa Sreevani	YSRCP	2 years, 303 days	2 years, 303 days
4	Renu Devi	BJP	1 year, 266 days	1 year, 266 days
5	Diya Kumari	BJP	1 year, 19 days	1 year, 19 days
6	Kamla Beniwal	INC	317 days	317 days
7	Pravati Parida	BJP	205 days	205 days

Notes

^ This column only names the deputy chief minister's party. The state government she heads with chief minister may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.

References

^ Rajendran, S. (13 July 2012). "Of Deputy Chief Ministers and the Constitution". The Hindu. Retrieved 7 November 2017.

[party-2] This column only names the deputy chief minister's party. The state government she heads with chief minister may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.

[dpmconsti-1] Rajendran, S. (13 July 2012). "Of Deputy Chief Ministers and the Constitution". The Hindu. Retrieved 7 November 2017.

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