| Punjab Legislative Assembly | |
| Legislature: | 16th Punjab Assembly |
| Session Room: | Assembly 09.jpg |
| Established: | 1952 |
| Preceded By: | Interim East Punjab Assembly |
| House Type: | Unicameral |
| Term Length: | 5 years; renewable |
| Leader1 Type: | Governor |
| Election1: | 31 July 2024 |
| Leader2 Type: | Speaker |
| Leader2: | Kultar Singh Sandhwan |
| Party2: | AAP |
| Election2: | 21 March 2022 |
| Leader3 Type: | Deputy Speaker |
| Leader3: | Jai Krishan Singh |
| Party3: | AAP |
| Election3: | 30 June 2022 |
| Leader4 Type: | Leader of the House (Chief Minister) |
| Leader4: | Bhagwant Mann |
| Party4: | AAP |
| Election4: | 16 March 2022 |
| Leader5 Type: | Deputy Leader of the House (Cabinet Minister) |
| Leader5: | Harpal Singh Cheema |
| Party5: | AAP |
| Election5: | 21 March 2022 |
| Leader6 Type: | Minister of Legislative Affairs |
| Leader6: | Ravjot Singh |
| Party6: | AAP |
| Election6: | 23 September 2024 |
| Leader7 Type: | Leader of the Opposition |
| Leader7: | Partap Singh Bajwa |
| Party7: | INC |
| Election7: | 9 April 2022 |
| Leader8 Type: | Deputy Leader of Opposition |
| Leader8: | Aruna Chaudhary |
| Party8: | INC |
| Election8: | 3 September 2024 |
| Structure1: | India Punjab Legislative Assembly 2024.svg |
| Structure1 Res: | 300px |
| Members: | 117 |
| Political Groups1: | Government (94) AAP (94)Official Opposition (16) INC (16)Other Opposition (7) SAD (3) BJP (2) BSP (1) IND (1) |
| Voting System1: | First-past-the-post |
| First Election1: | 26 March 1952 |
| Last Election1: | 20 February 2022 |
| Next Election1: | 2027 |
| Meeting Place: | Palace of Assembly, Chandigarh, India |
| Constitution: | Constitution of India |
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 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.
See main article: History of Punjab Legislative Assembly. In the British Raj, 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 79-member East Punjab Legislative Assembly was formed, the forerunner of the current assembly.
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. The Punjab State Legislature was a bicameral house in April 1952, comprising the Vidhan Sabha (lower house) and Vidhan Parishad (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, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab. The Vidhan Parishad was reduced to 40 seats and the Vidhan Sabha grew by 50 seats to 104 seats. On 1 January 1970, the Vidhan Parishad was abolished leaving the state with a unicameral legislature.[1]
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 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 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.[2]
| Years | Others | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | SAD | AAP | BJP | IND | |||
| 1952 | 96 | 13 | ~ | ~ | 9 | 8 | 126 |
| 1957 | 120 | ^ | 13 | 21 | 154 | ||
| 1962 | 90 | 19 | 18 | 27 | |||
| 1967 | 48 | ^ | 9 | 47 | 104 | ||
| 1969 | 38 | 43 | 4 | 17 | |||
| 1972 | 66 | 24 | 3 | 11 | |||
| 1977 | 17 | 58 | 2 | 40 | 117 | ||
| 1980 | 63 | 37 | 1 | 2 | 14 | ||
| 1985 | 32 | 73 | 6 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 1992 | 87 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 20 | ||
| 1997 | 14 | 75 | 18 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 2002 | 62 | 41 | 3 | 9 | 2 | ||
| 2007 | 44 | 49 | 19 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2012 | 46 | 56 | 12 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | 77 | 15 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2022 | 18 | 3 | 92 | 2 | 1 | 1 |