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. Pravati Parida of Odisha and Diya Kumari of Rajasthan are the female incumbent deputy chief ministers in India.
| (3) (3) (1) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Portrait | Name | Term of office | State/Union territory | Political party | 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 | rowspan=4 | |||
| 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 (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
| 15 December 2023 | Incumbent | Rajasthan | Bhajan Lal Sharma | rowspan=2 | |||||
| 7 | Pravati Parida
| 12 June 2024 | Incumbent | Odisha | Mohan Charan Majhi | ||||||
| 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 | Kamla Beniwal | INC | 317 days | 317 days | ||
| 6 | Diya Kumari | BJP | ||||
| 7 | Pravati Parida | BJP | ||||