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History of Punjab Legislative Assembly

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Punjab Legislative Assembly
16th Punjab Assembly
This is the Vector File of the Logo of Punjab Legislative Assembly.
Type
Type
History
Established1952
Preceded byInterim East Punjab Assembly
Leadership
Kultar Singh Sandhwan, AAP
since 21 March 2022
Jai Krishan Singh, AAP
since 30 June 2022
Bhagwant Mann, AAP
since 16 March 2022
Harpal Singh Cheema, AAP
since 21 March 2022
Ravjot Singh, AAP
since 23 September 2024
Partap Singh Bajwa, INC
since 9 April 2022
Deputy Leader of Opposition
Aruna Chaudhary, INC
since 3 September 2024
Structure
Seats117
Political groups
Government (94)
  AAP (94)

Official Opposition (16)

  INC (16)[a]

Other Opposition (7)

  SAD (3)[b]
  BJP (2)
  BSP (1)
  IND (1)
Length of term
5 years; renewable
Elections
First-past-the-post
First election
26 March 1952
Last election
20 February 2022
Next election
2027
Meeting place
Palace of Assembly, Chandigarh, India
Website
Punjab Legislative Assembly
Constitution
Constitution of India

The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab in India. Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 members, directly elected from 117 single-seat constituencies. The tenure of the Legislative Assembly is five years unless dissolved sooner. The current Speaker of the Assembly is Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Secretary of the Assembly is Mr. Surinder pal since April, 2021. The meeting place of the Legislative Assembly since 6 March 1961 is the Vidhan Bhavan in Chandigarh.

History

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British Raj

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An Executive Council was formed under The Indian Councils Act, 1861. It was only under the Government of India Act 1919 that a Legislative Council was set up in Punjab. Later, under the Government of India Act 1935, the Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted with a membership of 175. It was summoned for the first time on 1 April 1937. In 1947, Punjab Province was partitioned into West Punjab and East Punjab and the East Punjab Legislative Assembly was formed, the forerunner of the current assembly consisting of 79 members.

1947 – present

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On 15 July 1948, eight princely states of East Punjab grouped together to form a single state, Patiala and East Punjab States Union. The Punjab State Legislature was a bicameral house in April 1952, comprising the Vidhan Sabha (lower house) and Vidhan Parishad (upper house). In 1956 that state was largely merged into Punjab, the strength of the Vidhan Parishad of the new State of Punjab was enhanced from 40 seats to 46 seats and in 1957, it was increased to 51. Punjab was trifurcated in 1966 to form Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab. The Vidhan Parishad was reduced to 40 seats and the Vidhan Sabha was grown by 50 seats to 104 seats. On 1 January 1970, the Vidhan Parishad was abolished leaving the state with a unicameral legislature.[5]

Election results

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Pre-Independence

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Punjab Legislative Council

Year Others Total
UoP INC IND
1920 - - 71 - 71
1923 33 0 17 21
1926 31 2 12 26
1930 37 0 14 20

Punjab Provincial Assembly

Year Others Total
UoP INC SAD AIML IND
1937 98 18 11 2 16 30 175
1946 19 51 21 73 11 0

Post-Independence

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Years Majority Others Total
INC SAD AAP BJP IND
1952 INC 96 13 ~ ~ 9 8 126
1957 INC 120 ^ 13 21 154
1962 INC 90 19 18 27
1967 INC 48 ^ 9 47 104
1969 SAD 38 43 4 17
1972 INC 66 24 3 11
1977 SAD 17 58 2 40 117
1980 INC 63 37 1 2 14
1985 SAD 32 73 6 4 2
1992 INC 87 ^ 6 4 20
1997 SAD 14 75 18 6 4
2002 INC 62 41 3 9 2
2007 SAD 44 49 19 5 0
2012 SAD 46 56 12 3 0
2017 INC 77 15 20 3 0 2
2022 AAP 18 3 92 2 1 1
  • ^ - Party didn't contest election
  • ~ - Party didn't exist
  • Green color box indicates the party/parties who formed the government
  • Red color box indicates the official opposition party

List of Assemblies

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Council of Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab (1897-1920)

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Council of Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab (1897-1920)
Council
(Tenure)
Lieutenant-Governor

(President of Council)

Tenure
(Presiding dates)[6][7]
1st
(1 November 1898 – 3 July 1909)
William Mackworth Young 1 November 1897 – 6 March 1902
Sir Charles Montgomery Rivaz 6 March 1902 – 6 March 1907
Sir Denzil Charles Jelf Ibbetson 6 March 1907 - 26 May 1907
12 August 1907 - 22 January 1908
Sir Louis William Dane 25 May 1908 - 3 January 1910
2nd
(3 January 1910 – 14 December 1912)
3 January 1910 - 28 April 1911
4 August 1911 - 14 December 1912
14 December 1912 - 4 January 1913
3rd
(4 January 1913 – 19 April 1916)
4 January 1913 – 26 May 1913
Sir Michael Francis O'Dwyer 26 May 1913 – 12 June 1916
4th
(12 June 1916 – 6 April 1920)
12 June 1916 – 26 May 1919
Sir Edward Douglas Maclagan 26 May 1919 – 6 April 1920

Punjab Legislative Council (1921-1936)

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Punjab Legislative Council (1921-1936)
Council
(Tenure)
President Tenure[6] Governor
1st
(8 January 1921 – 27 October 1923)
Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler 8 January 1921 21 March 1922 Sir Edward Douglas Maclagan
Herbert Alexander Casson 10 May 1922 27 October 1923
2nd
(2 January 1924 – 27 October 1926)
2 January 1924 16 January 1925 Sir Edward Douglas Maclagan and Sir William Malcolm Hailey
Sheikh Abdul Qadir 16 January 1925 4 September 1925
Sir Shahab-ud-Din Virk 3 December 1925 27 October 1926
3rd
(3 January 1927 – 26 July 1930)
4 January 1927 26 July 1930 Sir William Malcolm Hailey and Sir G. F. Montmorency
4th
(24 October 1930 – 10 November 1936)
25 October 1930 24 July 1936 Sir G. F. Montmorency and Sir Herbert William Emerson
Chhotu Ram 20 October 1936 10 November 1936

Punjab Legislative Assembly

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Punjab Provincial Assembly (1937-1947)
Assembly Tenure Premier Party formed government Note
First sitting Date of dissolution
1 5 April 1937 19 March 1945 Sikandar Hayat Khan Unionist Party Assembly tenure extended due to World War II
Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana Assembly dissolved to conduct fresh and Impartial election
2 21 March 1946 4 July 1947 Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana Assembly dissolved since government resigned against Partition
Punjab Legislative Assembly (1947–present)
Assembly Tenure Chief Minister Party formed government Note
First sitting Date of dissolution
Interim 1 November 1947 20 June 1951 Gopi Chand Bhargava Indian National Congress Interim Assembly
Bhim Sen Sachar
Gopi Chand Bhargava
1st 3 May 1952 31 March 1957 Bhim Sen Sachar
Partap Singh Kairon
2nd 24 April 1957 1 March 1962 Partap Singh Kairon
3rd 13 March 1962 28 February 1967 Partap Singh Kairon Assembly under suspension from 5 July 1966 to 1 November 1966
Gopi Chand Bhargava
Ram Kishan
Gurmukh Singh Musafir
4th 20 March 1967 23 August 1968 Gurnam Singh Akali Dal - Sant Fateh Singh Assembly dissolved prematurely
Lachhman Singh Gill Punjab Janta Party
5th 13 March 1969 14 June 1971 Gurnam Singh Shiromani Akali Dal Assembly dissolved prematurely
Parkash Singh Badal
6th 21 March 1972 30 April 1977 Zail Singh Indian National Congress Assembly tenure extended by one month due to Emergency
7th 30 June 1977 17 February 1980 Parkash Singh Badal Shiromani Akali Dal Assembly dissolved prematurely
8th 23 June 1980 26 June 1985 Darbara Singh Indian National Congress Assembly suspended from 6 October 1983 and later dissolved due to Insurgency
9th 14 October 1985 11 May 1987 Surjit Singh Barnala Shiromani Akali Dal Assembly dissolved prematurely due to Insurgency
10 16 March 1992 11 February 1997 Beant Singh Indian National Congress -
Harcharan Singh Brar
Rajinder Kaur Bhattal
11 3 March 1997 26 February 2002 Parkash Singh Badal Shiromani Akali Dal
12 21 March 2002 27 February 2007 Amarinder Singh Indian National Congress
13 1 March 2007 6 March 2012 Parkash Singh Badal Shiromani Akali Dal
14 19 March 2012 11 March 2017 Parkash Singh Badal
15 24 March 2017 11 March 2022 Amarinder Singh Indian National Congress
Charanjit Singh Channi
16 17 March 2022 Bhagwant Mann Aam Aadmi Party

State under President's rule

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Punjab Provincial Assembly (1937-1947)
Assembly Governor's Rule Tenure Reason
1 Governor's Rule 19 March 1945 21 March 1946 1 year, 2 days To conduct fresh and Impartial election
2 2 March 1947 15 August 1947 166 days Government resigned against the decision of Partition of India
Punjab Legislative Assembly (1947–present)
Assembly President's Rule Tenure Reason
Interim President's rule 20 June 1951 17 April 1952 302 days Assembly kept in suspension to help the state government get its act together and conduct fresh elections
3 5 July 1966 1 November 1966 119 days State administration was taken over, to facilitate bifurcation of Punjab state into, Punjab and Haryana
4 23 August 1968 17 February 1969 178 days Break-up of coalition
5 14 June 1971 17 March 1972 277 days Following the 1971 Lok Sabha Elections, incumbent Chief Minister advised dissolving state assembly and holding fresh elections
6 30 April 1977 20 June 1977 51 days To conduct the fresh election after Emergency in India
7 17 February 1980 6 June 1980 110 days Government dismissed in spite of Parkash Singh Badal enjoying majority support in Assembly
8 6 October 1983 29 September 1985 1 year, 358 days Insurgency and breakdown of law and order
9 11 June 1987 25 February 1992 4 years, 259 days Insurgency and breakdown of law and order

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Two members were suspended by congress because of their anti-party activities. These are Sandeep Jakhar[1] and Vikramjit Chaudhary,[2] thus they are not bound by the decisions of the legislative party in assembly, however, officially they are still member of the congress as their party affiliation is yet to be decided by the speaker.
  2. ^ One of the three SAD MLAs, Sukhwinder Sukhi joined AAP on 14 August 2024.[3] As per Anti-defection law his membership will be decided by Speaker of Punjab Assembly.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Congress suspends Abohar MLA Sandeep Jakhar for 'anti-party' activities". Hindustan Times. 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Congress suspends Phillaur MLA Vikramjit Chaudhary for anti-party activities". Indian Express. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  3. ^ Punjab lawyer sends notice to banga mla seeks his resignation for defection from sad to aap.
  4. ^ No resignation yet banga mla sukhi in wait and watch mode.
  5. ^ "Punjab Legislative Assembly". legislativebodiesinindia.nic.in. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  6. ^ a b The Punjab Parliamentarians 1897-2013, Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, Lahore - Pakistan, 2015
  7. ^ "List of Former Governors - Pre Independence".
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