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| Chief Minister of Punjab, India | |
|---|---|
| File:Seal of Punjab Government.png Seal of Punjab | |
| Style | The Honourable (Formal) Mr. Chief Minister (Informal) |
| Status | Head of Government |
| Abbreviation | CM |
| Member of | Punjab Legislative Assembly |
| Reports to | Governor of Punjab |
| Seat | Punjab Civil Secretariat, Chandigarh |
| Appointer | Governor of Punjab |
| Term length | At the confidence of the assembly Chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.[1] |
| Inaugural holder | Sikandar Hayat Khan |
| Formation | 5 April 1937 |
| Deputy | Deputy Chief Minister |
| Salary | Monthly, ₹230,000 (US$3,200)[2] |
The Chief Minister of Punjab, an Indian state, is the head of the government of Punjab. As per the Constitution of India, the Governor of Punjab is the state's head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Punjab Legislative Assembly, the governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.[1]
History
Punjab Province (1937-1947)
The province of Punjab was then headquartered in Lahore.Under the Government of India Act 1935, a bicameral legislature was set up with a legislative assembly and a legislative council with a government headed by the Prime Minister. The Unionist Party won the Punjab Provincial Assembly elections, 1937 and Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan became the Premier of the Punjab and hold the position till his death in 1942. Khan was succeeded by Sir Khizar Tiwana. In 1946 elections were held the Unionist Party stood fourth place but with the support of Indian National Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal formed the government under Sir Khizar Tiwana. Tiwana later resigned on 2 March 1947 against decision of Partition of India.
Patiala and East Punjab States Union (1948-1956)
Patiala and East Punjab States Union or PEPSU was an Indian state formed by the union of post-partition province of Punjab on the Indian side of the border with eight princely states, which were allowed to maintain their native monarchs. The state was inaugurated on 15 July 1948 and formally became a state in 1950. Among these princely states, six were salute states:- Patiala, Jind, Kapurthala, Nabha, Faridkot and Malerkotla. The other two states were Nalagarh and Kalsia. PEPSU was earlier headed by the Premier, from 1952 the Chief Minister become the head of the government. On 1 November 1956, PEPSU was merged mostly into East Punjab( Punjab from 1950) following the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
East Punjab (1947-1966)
The state of East Punjab was formed in 1947 later it was renamed to Punjab in 1950. It consisted of the parts of the Punjab Province of British India that went to India following the partition of India. Since 1947, Punjab has had fifteen chief ministers. The first was Gopi Chand Bhargava of the Indian National Congress party, who was sworn in on 15 August 1947, when India gained independence from the British. He was succeeded by fellow Congressman Bhim Sen Sachar, who was then subsequently replaced after 188 days by former Chief Minister Gopi Chand Bhargava. After a brief term, President Rajendra Prasad placed the Punjab Legislative Assembly under suspension for ninth months to help the state government gets its act together. In 1952, the first state elections took place for the Legislative Assembly. The results of the election saw the return of the Congress government with former Chief Minister Bhim Sen Sachar as its leader. After he resigned in 1956, Partap Singh Kairon became chief minister. Serving until 1964, Kairon remain's one of Punjab's longest-serving chief ministers. He was followed by the returning Chief Minister Gopi Chand Bhargava, who briefly held office as acting chief minister for only 15 days. In July 1964, Ram Kishan assumed the office and served for two years. His tenure was followed by the President's rule which lasted for 119 days. On 1 November 1966, the state of Haryana was partitioned from Punjab and some other districts were given to the state of Himachal Pradesh.
Punjab (Since 1966)
The first chief minister of the newly re-configured state was Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir who led a Congress government from the Vidhan Parishad, one of only two to have done so. In the 1967 elections, he was voted out of power in favour of the Akali Das Sant Fateh Singh Group whose leader Gurnam Singh became the first non-Congress chief minister. Gurnam Singh's government was succeeded by three short-lived Akali Dal governments—Lachhman Singh Gill's government for less than a year and for a little more than a year under the returning Gurnam Singh and Parkash Singh Badal. After 272 days under President's rule, the Congress party returned to power under future President Zail Singh. In 1977, Parkash Singh Badal became the chief minister for the second time. Darbara Singh became chief minister in 1980 and remained in office for three years before a long period under President's rule. A brief interlude under Surjit Singh Barnala followed, after which three Congress-led governments took office—led by Beant Singh from 1992 to 1995, Harcharan Singh Brar from 1995 to 1996 and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal from 1996 to 1997. Upon taking office, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal became the first female chief minister of Punjab and overall the 8th female chief minister in India.
Parkash Singh Badal assumed office for the third time in 1997 and became the first chief minister, since Kairon's resignation in 1964, to serve a full term. Badal was succeeded by Congressman Amarinder Singh, who also successfully served a full term. In 2017 he became CM for second time but failed to complete his tenure due to internal political factionalism and Charanjit Singh Channi became the first Dalit chief minister of Punjab just 6 months before the expiry of the 15th assembly.
Key
|
|
- Acting Chief Minister
Precursors
Punjab Province (1937-1947)
| No | Portrait | Name
(Birth–Death) |
Party (Alliance/ Partner) |
Term of office[3] | Time in office | Assembly (Election) |
Appointed by | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | ||||||||
| 1 | 
|
Sikandar Hayat Khan (1982-1942) (West-Punjab Landlord) |
Unionist Party | 5 April 1937 | 26 December 1942[d] | 5 years, 265 days | 1st (1937) |
Herbert William Emerson | |
| 2 | 
|
Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana (1900-1975) (Khushab) |
30 December 1942 | 19 March 1945 | 2 years, 79 days | Bertrand Glancy | |||
| (i) | Governor Rule |
- | 19 March 1945 | 21 March 1946 | 1 year, 2 days | - | Viscount Wavell | ||
| (2) |
|
Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana (1900-1975) (Khushab) |
Unionist Party (INC-SAD) |
21 March 1946 | 2 March 1947 | 346 days | 2nd (1946) |
Bertrand Glancy | |
| (ii) | Governor Rule |
- | 2 March 1947 | 15 August 1947[pd] | 166 days | - | Earl Mountbatten | ||
Patiala and East Punjab States Union (1948-1956)
| No | Portrait | Name
(Birth–Death) |
Party (Alliance/ Partner) |
Term of office | Time in office | Assembly (Election) |
Appointed by | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | ||||||||
| Premier (1948-1952) | |||||||||
| - | 
|
Gian Singh Rarewala (1901-1979) ( – ) |
IND | 15 July 1948 | 13 January 1949 | 182 days | Not Yet Created | Yadavindra Singh | |
| 1 |
|
Gian Singh Rarewala (1901-1979) ( – ) |
13 January 1949 | 23 May 1951 | 2 years, 130 days | ||||
| 2 | File:Raghbir Singh.jpg | Raghbir Singh (1895-1955) ( – ) |
Indian National Congress | 23 May 1951 | 21 April 1952 | 1 year, 333 days | |||
| Chief Minister (1952-1956) | |||||||||
| 1 | File:Raghbir Singh.jpg | Raghbir Singh (1895-1955) (Patiala Sadar) |
Indian National Congress | 21 April 1952 | 22 April 1952 | 1 day | 1st (1952) |
Yadavindra Singh | |
| 2 |
|
Gian Singh Rarewala (1901-1979) (Amloh) |
IND (UDF) |
22 April 1952 | 5 March 1953 | 317 days | |||
| (i) | Error creating thumbnail: File missing | Vacant[lower-alpha 1] (President's rule) |
- | 5 March 1953 | 8 March 1954 | 1 year, 3 days | - | Rajendra Prasad | |
| (1) | File:Raghbir Singh.jpg | Raghbir Singh (1895-1955) (Patiala Sadar) |
Indian National Congress | 8 March 1954 | 12 January 1955[d] | 310 days | 2nd (1954) |
Yadavindra Singh | |
| 3 | Error creating thumbnail: File missing | Brish Bhan (1908-1988) (Kalayat) |
12 January 1955 | 1 November 1956[pd] | 1 year, 294 days | ||||
Chief Minister of Punjab
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List of Chief Ministers by Party
Following is the summary of hold of Chief Minister's office by members of Indian political parties.
| S. No. | Party | Number of Chief Ministers | Total days of holding CM Office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indian National Congress | 14 | 18291 days | |
| 2 | Shiromani Akali Dal | 3 | 7977 days | |
| 3 | Unionist Party | 2 | 3251 days | |
| 4 | Independent | 1 | 2090 days | |
| 5 | Punjab Janta Party | 1 | 272 days | |
| 6 | Akali Dal Sant | 1 | 262 days | |
Parties by number of their members served as Punjab Chief Ministers
Living former Chief Ministers of Punjab
As of 20 August 2026, there are three Living former chief ministers of Punjab:
- Living former Chief ministers
-
The most recent death of a former chief minister was that of Surjit Singh Barnala on 14 January 2017.[5]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 President's rule may be imposed when the "government in a state is not able to function as per the Constitution", which often happens because no party or coalition has a majority in the assembly. When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant, and the administration is taken over by the governor, who functions on behalf of the central government. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.[4]
- ↑ On 30 June 1970, BJS withdrawed their support from Badal's Government.
- ↑ On 13 November 1972, CPI withdrawed support from the Ministry.
- ↑ In October 2002, the CPI Legislative Party members merged with Congress.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th Edition, 2011 Reprint. pp. 241, 245. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. ISBN 978-81-8038-559-9. Note: although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Punjab as well.
- ↑ Captain Amarinder Singh. Pay Check. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ↑ World statesman - British India
- ↑ Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005.
- ↑ The Hindu, 14 January 2017. Surjit Singh Barnala passes away. Retrieved 11 February 2021.