The Punjab Reorganisation Act was passed by the
Indian Parliament
The Parliament of India (IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of t ...
on 18 September 1966, dissolving the former state of
East Punjab. Out of the former East Punjab, the modern state of
Punjab was created, the new state of
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 ...
was created; territory was transferred to
Himachal Pradesh, then a
Union territory; and the city of
Chandigarh
Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...
became a temporary Union territory to serve as the provisional capital of both the
Punjab and
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 ...
. This separation was the result of the
Punjabi Suba movement
The Punjabi Suba movement was a long-drawn political agitation, launched by Punjabi speaking people (mostly Sikhs) demanding the creation of a Punjabi Suba, or Punjabi-speaking state, in the post-independence Indian state of East Punjab. Led by ...
, which agitated for the creation of a Punjabi-speaking state (the modern state of Punjab); in the process a majority Hindi-speaking state was created (effectively, Haryana).
References
{{Reflist
Acts of the Parliament of India 1966
Reorganisation of Indian states