Style The Honourable | Formation 2 September 1946 | |
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Appointer President on the advice of the Prime Minister Inaugural holder Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel | ||
The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most offices in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minister is the maintenance of India's internal security; the country's large police force comes under his ambit. Occasionally, he is assisted by the Minister of State of Home Affairs and the lower-ranked Deputy Minister of 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.
Since 26 May 2014, the Home Minister of India is Rajnath Singh of the Bhartiya Janta Party, taking over the reins from Sushilkumar Shinde.