List of Chief Ministers of Punjab (India)

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Chief Minister of Punjab
Seal of Punjab.gif
Seal of Punjab
ParkashSinghBadal.JPG
Incumbent
Parkash Singh Badal

since 1 March 2007
Appointer Governor of Punjab
Inaugural holder Gopi Chand Bhargava
Formation 15 August 1947

The Chief Minister of Punjab, a north Indian state, is the head of the Government of Punjab. As per the Constitution of India, the Governor of Punjab is the state's de jure 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]

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, Khairon 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. During this time, the state of Haryana was separated from Punjab.

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 in to serve a full term. Badal was succeeded by Congressman Amarinder Singh, who also successfully served a full term. The incumbent Chief Minister of Punjab is Parkash Singh Badal who has headed an Akali Dal-BJP coalition government since 1 March 2007 and is the longest-serving chief minister with over 15 years in office.

Key

Chief Ministers of Punjab

Name
(birth–death); constituency
Portrait Party[lower-alpha 1] Term of office Elections
(Vidhan Sabha)
Appointed by
1 Gopi Chand Bhargava
(1889–1966)
MLA for Pundri
Indian National Congress 15 August
1947
13 April
1949[RES]
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi
2 Bhim Sen Sachar
(1894–1978)
MLA for Ludhiana City South
Indian National Congress 13 April
1949
18 October
1949[RES]
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.
(1) Gopi Chand Bhargava
(1889–1966)
MLA for Pundri
Indian National Congress 18 October
1949[§]
20 June
1951
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.
- Vacant[lower-alpha 2]
(President's rule)
None 20 June
1951
17 April
1952
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. Rajendra Prasad
(2) Bhim Sen Sachar
(1894–1978)
MLA for Ludhiana City South
Indian National Congress 17 April
1952[§]
23 January
1956[RES]
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. 1952 (1st) Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi
3 Partap Singh Kairon
(1901–1965)
MLA for Sujanpur
Indian National Congress 23 January
1956
21 June
1964[RES]
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. — (1st) Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh
1957 (2nd)
1962 (3rd) Narhar Vishnu Gadgil
(1) Gopi Chand Bhargava
(1889–1966)
MLC in Vidhan Parishad
Indian National Congress 21 June
1964[§]
6 July
1964[RES]
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. — (3rd) Hafiz Mohamad Ibrahim
4 Ram Kishan
MLA for Jullundur City North East
Indian National Congress 7 July
1964
5 July
1966
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. — (3rd)
- Vacant[lower-alpha 2]
(President's rule)
None 5 July
1966
1 November
1966
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Chief Minister of Punjab (After separation of Haryana)
5 Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir
(1899–1976)
MLC in Vidhan Parishad
Indian National Congress 1 November
1966
8 March
1967
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. — (3rd) Dharma Vira
6 Gurnam Singh
(1899–1973)
MLA for Qila Raipur
Akali Das Sant Fateh Singh Group 8 March
1967
25 November
1967[RES]
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. 1967 (4th)
7 Lachhman Singh Gill
(1917–1969)
MLA for Dharamkot
Shiromani Akali Dal 25 November
1967
23 August
1968
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. — (4th) D. C. Pavate
- Vacant[lower-alpha 2]
(President's rule)
None 23 August
1968
17 February
1969
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. Zakir Hussain
(6) Gurnam Singh
(1899–1973)
MLA for Qila Raipur
Shiromani Akali Dal 17 February
1969[§]
27 March
1970[RES]
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. 1969 (5th) D. C. Pavate
8 Parkash Singh Badal
(born 1927)
MLA for Giddarbaha
ParkashSinghBadal.JPG Shiromani Akali Dal 27 March
1970
14 June
1971
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. — (5th)
- Vacant[lower-alpha 2]
(President's rule)
None 14 June
1971
17 March
1972
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. V. V. Giri
9 Zail Singh
(1916–1994)
MLA for Anandpur Sahib
Giani Zail Singh (cropped).jpg Indian National Congress 17 March
1972
30 April
1977
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. 1972 (6th) D. C. Pavate
- Vacant[lower-alpha 2]
(President's rule)
None 30 April
1977
20 June
1977
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. B. D. Jatti
(8) Parkash Singh Badal
(born 1927)
MLA for Giddarbaha
ParkashSinghBadal.JPG Shiromani Akali Dal 20 June
1977[§]
17 February
1980
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. 1977 (7th) Mahendra Mohan Choudhry
- Vacant[lower-alpha 2]
(President's rule)
None 17 February
1980
6 June
1980
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
10 Darbara Singh
(1916–1990)
MLA for Nakodar
Indian National Congress (I) 6 June
1980
10 October
1983
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. 1980 (8th) Jaisukh lal Hathi
- Vacant[lower-alpha 2]
(President's rule)
None 10 October
1983
29 September
1985
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. Zail Singh
11 Surjit Singh Barnala
(born 1925)
MLA for Barnala
H E Shri Surjit Singh Barnala.jpg Shiromani Akali Dal 29 September
1985
11 June
1987
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. 1985 (9th) Arjun Singh
- Vacant[lower-alpha 2]
(President's rule)
None 11 June
1987
25 February
1992
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. Zail Singh
12 Beant Singh
(1922–1995)
MLA for Jullundur Cantonment

100px

Indian National Congress (I) 25 February
1992
31 August
1995[†]
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. 1992 (10th) Surendra Nath
13 Harcharan Singh Brar
(1922–2009)
MLA for Muktsar
Indian National Congress (I) 31 August
1995
21 January
1996[RES]
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. — (10th) B.K.N. Chhibber
14 Rajinder Kaur Bhattal
(born 1945)
MLA for Lehra
Indian National Congress (I) 21 January
1996
11 February
1997
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. — (10th)
(8) Parkash Singh Badal
(born 1927)
MLA for Lambi
ParkashSinghBadal.JPG Shiromani Akali Dal 12 February
1997[§]
26 February
2002
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. 1997 (11th)
15 Amarinder Singh
(born 1942)
MLA for Patiala Town
Indian National Congress 26 February
2002
1 March
2007
Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. 2002 (12th) J. F. R. Jacob
(8) Parkash Singh Badal
(born 1927)
MLA for Lambi
ParkashSinghBadal.JPG Shiromani Akali Dal 1 March
2007[§]
Incumbent Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. 2007 (13th) Sunith Francis Rodrigues
2012 (14th) Shivraj Patil

Living former chief ministers

As of May 2015, three former chief ministers were living, the oldest being Surjit Singh Barnala (1985–1987, born 1925). The most recent death of a former chief minister was that of Harcharan Singh Brar (1995–1996), on 6 September 2009.

Chief Minister Term Date of birth
Surjit Singh Barnala 1985–1987 (1925-10-21) October 21, 1925 (age 98)
Rajinder Kaur Bhattal 1996–1997 (1945-09-30) September 30, 1945 (age 78)
Amarinder Singh 2002–2007 (1942-03-11) March 11, 1942 (age 82)

Notes & References

Notes
  1. This column only names the chief minister's party. The state government he heads may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 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]
References
  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.
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005.

External links