The Premier of the Punjab was the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, ...

and the Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly of Punjab Province in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. The position was dissolved upon the Partition of India in 1947.

History

The office was created under the Government of India Act 1935. The Unionist Party was the principal legislative force in the province. It received support from legislators of the

Punjab Muslim League When the All-India Muslim League was founded at Dacca, on 30 December 1906 at the occasion of the annual All India Muhammadan Educational Conference, It was participated by the Muslim leaders from Punjab, i.e., Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi, Mian Fa ...

, the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

and the Sikh Akali Dal at various periods. The Unionist government implemented

agrarian reform Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land (see land reform) or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land ...

s in Punjab by using legal and administrative measures to relieve farmers and peasants of crippling debt. Similar steps were taken by the Prime Minister of Bengal. The Unionists opposed the

Quit India The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule i ...

movement and supported the Allies during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The Unionists were constitutionalists who favored cooperation with the British to achieve independence from the Raj. The Unionists signed the

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

Pact with the All India Muslim League (AIML) in 1937.Stanley Wolpert, Jinnah of Pakistan, Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 150–151. The Punjab premier supported the drafting of the

Lahore Resolution The Lahore Resolution ( ur, , ''Qarardad-e-Lahore''; Bengali: লাহোর প্রস্তাব, ''Lahor Prostab''), also called Pakistan resolution, was written and prepared by Muhammad Zafarullah Khan and was presented by A. K. Fazlul ...

in 1940. In 1941, the premiers of Punjab and Bengal joined the Viceroy's defence council against the wishes of the AIML. The second Punjab premier joined the Paris Peace Conference in 1946.

Premiers of the Punjab (1937-1947)

Legacy

The office was succeeded by the Chief Minister of Punjab (Pakistan) and Chief Minister of Punjab (India).

References

{{Reflist Provinces of British India Prime Ministers of British India

History

Premiers of the Punjab (1937-1947)

Legacy

See also

References