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]

Map representing the number of female deputy chief ministers in different states and union territories of India

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 and also as Chief Minister (who also only female chief minister who later served as deputy chief minister). 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 six states in India had female deputy chief ministers out of 28 states and three 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
			Assumed office	Left office	Time in office
1		Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (1945–)	6 August 1996	21 November 1996	3 years, 161 days	Punjab	Indian National Congress		Harcharan Singh Brar
			6 January 2004	1 March 2007					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 (b. 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 (b. 1958)	16 November 2020	9 August 2022	1 year, 266 days	Bihar	Bharatiya Janata Party		Nitish Kumar
6		Diya Kumari* (b. 1971)	15 December 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 252 days	Rajasthan			Bhajan Lal Sharma
7		Pravati Parida* (b. 1967)	12 June 2024	Incumbent	1 year, 73 days	Odisha			Mohan Charan Majhi

Statistics

List of female deputy chief ministers by length of term

No.	Name	Party		Length of term
				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, 252 days	1 year, 252 days
6	Pravati Parida	BJP		1 year, 73 days	1 year, 73 days
7	Kamla Beniwal	INC		317 days	317 days

See also

• List of female governors in India
• List of female lieutenant governors and administrators in India
• List of female chief ministers in India
• List of female legislative speakers and chairpersons in India
• List of female opposition leaders in India
• List of female chief justices in India
• List of current Indian deputy chief ministers

Notes

1. 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.