Who served as the first Prime Minister of independent India, holding office from 1947 until his death in 1964, and shaped the country's early democratic and secular institutions?

• A Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
• B Lal Bahadur Shastri
• C Jawaharlal Nehru ✓
• D Rajendra Prasad

Jawaharlal Nehru was India's first and longest-serving prime minister, guiding the newly independent nation through its formative years and championing non-alignment.