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
Election for the Sixteenth Legislative Assembly was held in the Indian state of Punjab. Polling was done on 20 February 2022 to elect the 117 members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The counting of votes declaration of results was done on 10 ...
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 Speaker of the sixteenth assembly is
Kultar Singh Sandhwan. The meeting place of the Legislative Assembly since 6 March 1961 is the ''Vidhan Bhavan'' in Chandigarh.
History
In the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
, 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.
After the
independence of India, on 15 July 1948, eight princely states of East Punjab grouped together to form a single state,
Patiala and East Punjab States Union
Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') constructe ...
. The Punjab State Legislature was a
bicameral house in April 1952, comprising the
Vidhan Sabha (lower house) and
Vidhan Parishad
The State Legislative Council, or Vidhan Parishad, or Saasana Mandali is the upper house in those states of India that have a bicameral state legislature; the lower house being the State Legislative Assembly. Its establishment is defined in ...
(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
Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
,
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.
Legislature
The
legislature comprises the governor and the Punjab Legislative Assembly, which is the highest political organ in the state. The governor has the power to summon the assembly or to close the same. All members of the legislative assembly are directly elected, normally once in every five years by the eligible voters who are above 18 years of age. The current assembly consists of 117 elected members. The elected members select one of its own members as its Chairperson who is called the
speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** In ...
of the assembly. The speaker is assisted by the deputy speaker who is also elected by the members. The conduct of a meeting in the house is the responsibility of the speaker.
The main function of the
assembly
Assembly may refer to:
Organisations and meetings
* Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions
* General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...
is to pass laws and rules. Every bill passed by the house has to be finally approved by the governor before it becomes applicable.
The normal term of the legislative assembly is five years from the date appointed for its first meeting.
Sixteenth Assembly
Past election results
* ^ - 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 Punjab Legislative Assemblies
See also
*
PEPSU
*
Interim East Punjab Assembly
*
List of governors of Punjab (India)
This is a list of the governors of Punjab state in India since its independence on 15 August 1947. Since 1985, the governor of Punjab has acted as the administrator of Chandigarh as well.
Rajpramukh of PEPSU (1948-1956)
Source:
Governors ...
*
List of constituencies of Punjab Legislative Assembly
*
List of Deputy Chief Ministers of Punjab (India)
*
List of Speakers of Punjab Legislative Assembly
*
List of Leader of Opposition in Punjab Legislative Assembly
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Unicameral legislatures