Premier of the Punjab
Arms of Punjab
StyleThe Honorable
AppointerGovernor of Punjab
Formation5 April 1937
First holderSir Sikandar Hayat Khan
Final holderSir Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana
Abolished15 August 1947
SuccessionChief Minister of Punjab (India) and Chief Minister of Punjab (Pakistan)

The Premier of the Punjab was the head of government and the Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly of Punjab Province in British India. 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, the Indian National Congress and the Sikh Akali Dal at various periods. The Unionist government implemented agrarian reforms 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.[1] The Unionists opposed the Quit India movement and supported the Allies during World War II.[2] The Unionists were constitutionalists who favored cooperation with the British to achieve independence from the Raj.

The Unionists signed the Lucknow Pact with the All India Muslim League (AIML) in 1937.[3] The Punjab premier supported the drafting of the Lahore Resolution 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)

NoName
(constituency)
Birth - DeathImageTook officeLeft officeTermParty
(Coalition with)
Election (Assembly)Appointed by
1 Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan5 June 1892 - 26 December 19425 April 193726 December 19425 years, 265 days Unionist Party1937 (1)Sir Herbert Emerson
2 Sir Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana 7 August 1900 - 20 January 197230 December 19425 February 19463 years, 37 days- (1)Sir Bertrand Glancy
(i)Governor Rule (Sir Bertrand Glancy)5 February 194621 March 194644 days--Viscount Wavell
(2) Sir Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana 7 August 1900 - 20 January 1972 21 March 19462 March 1947346 daysUnionist Party
(INC and SAD)
1946 (2)Sir Bertrand Glancy
(ii)Governor Rule (Sir Evan Jenkins)2 March 194715 August 1947166 days --Earl Mountbatten

Legacy

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

See also

References

  1. Bandyopadhyay, D. (2004-01-01). "Preventable Deaths". Economic and Political Weekly. 39 (30): 3347–3348. JSTOR 4415309.
  2. Ahmad, Syed Nesar (1991). Origins of Muslim Consciousness in India: a world-system perspective. Greenwood Press. p. 179. ISBN 0-313-27331-6.
  3. Stanley Wolpert, Jinnah of Pakistan, Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 150–151. ISBN 0-19-577389-6
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