By : Neha Dhyani
Updated : Feb 4, 2022, 13:34
Punjab, a state in the north-western territory of India, has the Chief Minister as the head of the government. Although a Governor is considered the head of any state, as per the Indian Constitution, the de-facto administrative authority always rests with the Chief Minister.
Even before Independence, the Punjab Province (as it was earlier known) was an important seat of education and administration and had Lahore as its capital. After Independence, till 1966, the modern state of Punjab was known as East Punjab. It was only after 1966 that the name was rechristened as Punjab. Gopi Chand Bhargava was the first Chief Minister of Punjab, appointed by the then ruling party, the Indian National Congress. He held office from 1947 to 1951, only to be briefly succeeded by Bhim Sen Sachar for a period of 188 days.
Currently, the head of Punjab is Charanjit Singh of the Indian National Congress. He succeeded Captain Amrinder Singh, who was the Chief Minister of Punjab from 2017 to 2021.
Here's a list of the Chief Ministers of Punjab who had presided over the state ever since the President's Rule of 1983-
Sr No. | Name | Party | Took Office | Left office |
1 | Surjit Singh Barnala | Shiromani Akali Dal | 29 September 1985 | 11 June 1987 |
2 | President's Rule | - | 11 June 1987 | 25 February 1992 |
3 | Beant Singh | Indian National Congress | 25 February 1992 | 31 August 1995 |
4 | Harcharan Singh Brar | Indian National Congress | 31 August 1995 | 21 November 1996 |
5 | Rajinder Kaur Bhattal | Indian National Congress | 21 November 1996 | 11 February 1997 |
6 | Prakash Singh Badal | Shiromani Akali Dal (BJP) | 11 February 1997 | 26 February 2002 |
7 | Amrinder Singh | Indian National Congress (CPI) | 26 February 2002 | 1 March 2007 |
8 | Prakash Singh Badal | Shiromani Akali Dal (BJP) | 1 March 2007 | 16 March 2017 |
9 | Amrinder Singh | Indian National Congress | 16 March 2017 | 20 September 2021 |
10 | Charanjit Singh Channi | Indian National Congress | 20 September 2021 | Incumbent |
The incumbent Chief Minister of Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi, replaced Amrinder Singh as the CM after the latter resigned from his position on 20 September 2021. Before being sworn in as the Chief Minister of Punjab, Channi had been the Minister of Technical Education and Training under the leadership of Amrinder Singh from March 2017. He was also the leader of the opposition from 2015 to 2016 in the Punjab Legislative Assembly.
Besides being a politician, Channi was a promising student who got a Law degree from Punjab University and an MBA from PTU Jalandhar. He is currently pursuing his PhD from Punjab University in Chandigarh under the guidance of Professor Emmanuel Nahar.
Channi is also the first Dalit Chief Minister of Punjab.
Here's a compact list of all the Indian political parties that have been the ruling parties of the state -
Sr.No | Party | Number of Chief Ministers | Total No. of Days in Office |
1 | Indian National Congress | 14 | 16624 |
2 | Shiromani Akali Dal | 3 | 7977 |
3 | Unionist Party | 2 | 3251 |
4 | Independent | 1 | 2090 |
5 | Punjab Janta Party | 1 | 272 |
6 | Akali Dal Sant | 1 | 262 |
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Charanjit Singh Channi is the current Chief Minister of Punjab.
Punjab has been under President's Rule twice.