Who was prime minister for 49 days

Charan Singh served as Prime Minister of India for approximately 170 days (not 49) from July 28, 1979, to January 14, 1980, making his tenure one of the shortest in Indian history. However, if we're looking at extremely brief tenures, Atal Bihari Vajpayee served for just 13 days in 1996, and H.D. Deve Gowda served for about 10 months in 1996-97. There hasn't been a Prime Minister who served exactly 49 days, though Charan Singh's tenure was notably brief and tumultuous. He came to power after the collapse of the Morarji Desai-led Janata Party government, forming a government with the support of Indira Gandhi's Congress Party.

The unusual aspect of Charan Singh's tenure was that he never actually faced Parliament or proved his majority on the floor of the House. Shortly after he was sworn in as Prime Minister, the Congress Party withdrew its support, making his government's survival impossible. Rather than face certain defeat in a confidence vote, he recommended the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and remained as caretaker Prime Minister until elections were held. His government essentially functioned as a caretaker administration for most of its existence. While serving as a caretaker, he could not implement major policy initiatives, making his time in office largely ceremonial. This period highlighted the instability of coalition politics in India during the post-Emergency era and remains an example of how fragile government formations can be in multi-party democracies.