Bhim Sen Sachar (1 December 1894 – 18 January 1978) was an Indian politician who served three times as the Chief Minister of Punjab.

Early life

Sachar was born on 1 December 1894. He did BA and

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

and practiced law in

Gujranwala Gujranwala is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fourth most-populous city in the Pakistani province of Punjab. Located in northern-central Punjab's Rachna Doab, it serves as the headquarters of its Gujranwala District, epony ...

, which is now in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. He was attracted to the freedom movement and joined the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

party at a young age. In 1921, he was elected as the Secretary of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. By the time India gained independence in 1947, he was an important member of the party.

Years in Pakistan

Around the time of

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

, Sachar accepted

citizenship of Pakistan Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...

and became a member of the First Pakistan Constituent Assembly. He later relinquished the Pakistan citizenship and returned to India.

Back in India

In 1949, the Congress selected him for the office of

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. He took oath on 13 April 1949 and served until 18 October 1949. However, bitter factional politics in the state party unit between

Gopi Chand Bhargava Gopi Chand Bhargava (8 March 1889 – 26 December 1966) was the first Chief Minister of Punjab from 15 August 1947 to 13 April 1949, and again between 18 October 1949, to 20 June 1951, and for the third time as caretaker Chief Minister b ...

and Sachar led to the first ever imposition of President's rule in any state in India under

Article 365 Article 365 may refer to: * Article 365 of the Constitution of India * Article 365 of the Penal Code of Chile * Article 365 of the Sri Lankan Penal Code {{disambig ...

of Indian Constitution.br>
The first elections in independent India were held in 1952 and the Punjab legislative assembly was formed for the first time that year. The Congress party won the provincial elections at this time, and Sachar became chief minister again, serving from 17 April 1952 to 23 January 1956. Bhim Sen Sachar was the father-in-law of famous journalist and former Indian Ambassador to the UK Kuldip Nayar. After he demitted office (due to internal party politics), Sachar was named governor of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

by the union government. He served from 1956 to 1957. He was then named governor of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and served from 1957 to 1962. During the Emergency, he was arrested and sent to jail with some other dissident leaders of Congress party, who belonged to the "old school" of the party and had spoken against the increasing authoritarianism of

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

and her son

Sanjay Sanjay, also spelled Sanjai, Sanjey, Sanje, Sanjaye and Sunjay, is a male given name of Sanskrit origin meaning "triumphant," from the Sanskrit Sañjaya ( सञ्जय), and may refer to: People * Sanjaya, an important character in the ancient ...

Personal life

Sachar was married at an early age to a girl of his own community, in a match arranged by parents. His son,

Rajinder Sachar Rajindar Sachar (22 December 1923 – 20 April 2018) was an Indian lawyer and a former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. He was a member of United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and also served as a c ...

(b. 1923) was a lawyer and judge who served as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, and was famously the Chairman of the

Sachar Committee The Sachar Committee was a seven-member high-level committee established in March 2005 by former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The committee was headed by former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Rajinder Sachar to study the social, e ...

which produced a report on the status of religious minorities in India. Another son, Capt. Vijay Sachar of the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

, was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

in Gaza, where he was serving in the Indian contingent of the

UNEF UNEF may refer to: * United Nations Emergency Force, a UN force deployed in the Middle East in 1956 * UNEF, a designation for Extra-Fine thread series of Standard Unified Screw Threads (ANSI B1.1) * Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (Nation ...

. Veteran Indian journalist, left-wing activist and peace activist

Kuldip Nayar Kuldip Nayar (14 August 1923 – 23 August 2018) was an Indian journalist, syndicated columnist, human rights activist, author and former High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom noted for his long career as a left-wing political com ...

was Sachar's son-in-law.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sachar, Bhim Sen Indian National Congress politicians from Punjab, India Chief ministers of Punjab, India Governors of Andhra Pradesh Governors of Odisha 1894 births 1978 deaths Politicians from Peshawar Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Pakistani emigrants to India Naturalised citizens of India Punjab, India MLAs 1952–1957 Indian people imprisoned during the Emergency (India) Indian independence activists from Punjab Province (British India) Prisoners and detainees of British India Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Leaders of the opposition in Punjab, India