Punjab Provincial Assembly (British India)

The Punjab Provincial Assembly was the legislature of the province of Punjab in British India. Established by British authorities under Government of India Act 1935, the assembly had executive powers and members directly elected from 175 constituencies by first past the post system.

Punjab Provincial Assembly
Type
Type	Unicameral
Term limits	5 years
History
Founded	5 April 1937 (1937-04-05)
Disbanded	4 July 1947 (1947-07-04)
Preceded by	Punjab Legislative Council
Succeeded by	Interim East Punjab Assembly (India) Provincial Assembly of West Punjab (Pakistan)
Leadership
Speaker	Shahab-ud-Din Virk (First)
	Sataya Prakash Singha (Last)
Deputy Speaker	Dasaundha Singh (First)
	Kapur Singh (Last)
Prime Minister	Sikandar Hayat Khan (First)
	Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana (Last)
Leader of Opposition	Gopi Chand Bhargava (First)
	Iftikhar Hussain Khan Mamdot (Last)
Seats	175 Single member-159 Double member-8
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
First election	1937
Last election	1946
Meeting place
Lahore
Constitution
Government of India Act 1935

Punjab Assembly building in Lahore 1938.

Speakers

S. No.	Name	Tenure		Party		Assembly
1	Shahab-ud-Din Virk	6 April 1937	16 March 1945		Unionist Party	1st
2	Sataya Prakash Singha	21 March 1946	4 July 1947			2nd

Deputy Speakers

S. No.	Name	Tenure		Party		Assembly
1	Dasaundha Singh	6 April 1937	7 April 1941		Unionist Party	1st
2	Gurbachan Singh	22 April 1941	16 March 1945
3	Kapur Singh	26 March 1946	4 July 1947			2nd

Prime minister

S. No.	Name	Tenure		Party		Assembly
1	Sikandar Hayat Khan	5 April 1937	26 December 1942		Unionist Party	1st
2	Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana	30 December 1942	19 March 1945
		21 March 1946	2 March 1947			2nd

Seats Distribution

All 175 constituencies were reserved on the bases of religion. It was as follows:-

Constituency Type	Urban	Rural	Total
General	8	34	42
Muhammadans	9	75	84
Sikhs	2	29	31
Special^	-	-	18
Total	19	138	175

^Special constituencies (non-territory constituency) were further divided into Categories and sub-categories as follow:-

• Women - 4
  • General - 1
  • Mohammadans - 2
  • Sikhs - 1
• European - 1
• Anglo-Indian - 1
• Indian Christian - 2
• Punjab Commerce and Industry - 1
• Landholders - 5
  • General - 1
  • Mohammadans - 3
  • Sikhs - 1
• Trade and Labour Unions - 3
• University - 1

First Assembly

Main article: 1937 Punjab Provincial Assembly election

Members of Punjab Provincial Assembly elected in 1937

After the passing of Government of India act 1935, Provincial assembly was set up in Punjab. It consisted 175 constituencies. Out of these 159 were single-member constituencies and 8 were double-members constituencies. In double-members constituencies one was reserved for the Schedule Caste according to Poona Pact.^[1] In double constituencies each voter had two votes to cast his vote, one for SC candidate and one for general candidate but considered as one vote to calculate voter turnout.

Party		Seats won
	Unionist Party (UoP)	98
	Indian National Congress (INC)	18
	Khalsa National Party (KNP)	13
	Hindu Election Board (HEB)	12
	Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)	11
	Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam (MAI)	4
	All-India Muslim League (AIML)	2
	Congress Nationalist Party (CNP)	1
	Independents (IND)	16
Total		175
Source:[2]

Second Assembly

Main article: 1946 Punjab Provincial Assembly election

On the eve of the elections, the political landscape in the Punjab was finely poised, and the Muslim League offered a credible alternative to the Unionist Party. The transformation itself had been rapid, as most landlords and pirs had not switched allegiance until after 1944.^[3] The breakdown of talks between the Punjab Premier, Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana and Muhammad Ali Jinnah in late 1944 had meant many Muslims were now forced to choose between the two parties at the forthcoming election.^[3] A further blow for the Unionists came with death of its leading statesman Sir Chhotu Ram in early 1945.

The Result of election was as follows:-^[4]

Party		Seats won	Change
	All-India Muslim League	73	71
	Indian National Congress	51	33
	Shiromani Akali Dal	21	10
	Unionist Party	19	79
	Independent	11	05
	Others	0	30
Total		175