The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab in India. The 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 the Secretary of the Assembly has been Mr. Surinder pal since April, 2021. The meeting place of the Legislative Assembly since 6 March 1961 is the Vidhan Bhavan in Chandigarh.

History British Raj 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 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.

Election results Pre-Independence Punjab Legislative Council YearOthers Total UoP INC IND1920 - -71 - 71192333017211926312122619303701420

Punjab Provincial Assembly YearOthers Total UoP INC SAD AIML IND193798181121630175194619512173110

Post-Independence YearsMajority Others Total INC SAD AAP BJP IND19529613 ~ ~981261957120 ^1321154196290191827196748 ^94710419693843417197266243111977175824011719806337121419853273642199287^64201997147518642002 62413922007444919502012465612302017771520302202218392211 ^ - 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

Council of Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab (1897-1920) Council of Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab (1897-1920)CouncilLieutenant-Governor (President of Council)TenureThe Punjab Parliamentarians 1897-2013, Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, Lahore - Pakistan, 20151stWilliam Mackworth Young1 November 1897 – 6 March 1902Sir Charles Montgomery Rivaz6 March 1902 – 6 March 1907Sir Denzil Charles Jelf Ibbetson6 March 1907 - 26 May 190712 August 1907 - 22 January 1908Sir Louis William Dane25 May 1908 - 3 January 1910 2nd3 January 1910 - 28 April 19114 August 1911 - 14 December 191214 December 1912 - 4 January 19133rd4 January 1913 – 26 May 1913Sir Michael Francis O'Dwyer26 May 1913 – 12 June 19164th12 June 1916 – 26 May 1919Sir Edward Douglas Maclagan26 May 1919 – 6 April 1920

Punjab Legislative Council (1921-1936)

Punjab Legislative Council (1921-1936)CouncilPresidentTenureGovernor1st Montagu Sherard Dawes Butler8 January 192121 March 1922Sir Edward Douglas MaclaganHerbert Alexander Casson10 May 192227 October 19232nd2 January 192416 January 1925Sir Edward Douglas Maclagan and Sir William Malcolm HaileySheikh Abdul Qadir16 January 19254 September 1925Sir Shahab-ud-Din Virk3 December 192527 October 19263rd4 January 192726 July 1930Sir William Malcolm Hailey and Sir G. F. Montmorency4th25 October 193024 July 1936Sir G. F. Montmorency and Sir Herbert William EmersonChhotu Ram20 October 193610 November 1936

Punjab Legislative Assembly

Punjab Provincial Assembly (1937-1947)Assembly TenureLeader of the HousePremierParty formed government NoteFirst sitting Date of dissolution 15 April 193719 March 1945Sikandar Hayat KhanUnionist PartyAssembly tenure extended due to World War IIMalik Khizar Hayat TiwanaAssembly dissolved to conduct fresh and Impartial election221 March 19464 July 1947Malik Khizar Hayat TiwanaAssembly dissolved since government resigned against PartitionPunjab Legislative Assembly (1947–present)AssemblyTenureLeader of the HouseChief MinisterParty formed governmentNoteFirst sittingDate of dissolution Interim1 November 194720 June 1951Gopi Chand BhargavaIndian National CongressInterim Assembly Bhim Sen SacharGopi Chand Bhargava1st3 May 195231 March 1957Bhim Sen SacharPartap Singh Kairon2nd24 April 19571 March 1962Partap Singh Kairon3rd13 March 196228 February 1967Partap Singh KaironAssembly under suspension from 5 July 1966 to 1 November 1966Partap Singh KaironGopi Chand BhargavaRam KishanRam KishanGurmukh Singh Musafir4th20 March 196723 August 1968Gurnam SinghAkali Dal - Sant Fateh SinghAssembly dissolved prematurely Lachhman Singh GillPunjab Janta Party5th13 March 196914 June 1971Gurnam SinghShiromani Akali DalAssembly dissolved prematurely Parkash Singh Badal6th21 March 197230 April 1977Zail SinghIndian National CongressAssembly tenure extended by one month due to Emergency7th30 June 197717 February 1980Parkash Singh BadalShiromani Akali DalAssembly dissolved prematurely 8th23 June 198026 June 1985Darbara SinghIndian National CongressAssembly suspended from 6 October 1983 and later dissolved due to Insurgency on 26 June 1985.9th14 October 19856 March 1988Surjit Singh BarnalaShiromani Akali DalAssembly suspended prematurely due to Insurgency on 11 June 1987 and later on dissolved on 6 March 1988.1016 March 199211 February 1997Beant SinghIndian National Congress -Harcharan Singh BrarRajinder Kaur Bhattal113 March 199726 February 2002Parkash Singh BadalShiromani Akali Dal1221 March 200227 February 2007Amarinder SinghIndian National Congress131 March 20076 March 2012Parkash Singh BadalShiromani Akali Dal1419 March 201211 March 2017Parkash Singh Badal1524 March 201711 March 2022Amarinder SinghIndian National CongressCharanjit Singh Channi1617 March 2022Incumbent Bhagwant MannAam Aadmi Party

State under President's rule Punjab Provincial Assembly (1937-1947)AssemblyGovernor's Rule TenureReason1Governor's Rule 19 March 194521 March 1946To conduct fresh and Impartial election 22 March 194715 August 1947Government resigned against the decision of Partition of IndiaPunjab Legislative Assembly (1947–present)Assembly President's RuleTenureReasonInterimPresident's rule 20 June 195117 April 1952Assembly kept in suspension to help the state government get its act together and conduct fresh elections35 July 19661 November 1966State administration was taken over, to facilitate bifurcation of Punjab state into, Punjab and Haryana423 August 196817 February 1969Break-up of coalition514 June 197117 March 1972Following the 1971 Lok Sabha Elections, incumbent Chief Minister advised dissolving state assembly and holding fresh elections 630 April 197720 June 1977To conduct the fresh election after Emergency in India717 February 19806 June 1980Government dismissed in spite of Parkash Singh Badal enjoying majority support in Assembly86 October 198329 September 1985Insurgency and breakdown of law and order911 June 198725 February 1992Insurgency and breakdown of law and order

See also PEPSU Interim East Punjab Assembly List of governors of Punjab (India) List of constituencies of Punjab Legislative Assembly List of deputy chief ministers of Punjab, India List of speakers of the Punjab Legislative Assembly List of leaders of the opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly

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