List of speakers of the Punjab Legislative Assembly

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Last edited January 13, 2026


Template:Infobox political post In the Republic of India, the various central and state legislatures are presided by either a Speaker or a Chairman. The Speaker is elected in the very first meeting of the Punjab Legislative Assembly after the General elections for a term of 5 years from amongst the members of the Vidhan Sabha. The Speaker holds office until either he ceases to be a member of the Vidhan Sabha or he himself resigns. The Speaker can be removed from office by a resolution passed in the Vidhan Sabha by an effective majority of its members. In the absence of a Speaker, the meeting of Punjab Legislative Assembly is presided over by the Deputy Speaker. The incumbent Speaker is Kultar Singh Sandhwan and the deputy speaker is Jai Krishan Singh of Aam Admi Party.

Powers and functions of the Speaker

Following are the functions and position of Speakers.[1]

  • The Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha conducts the business in house, and decides whether a bill is a money bill or not.
  • They maintain discipline and decorum in the house and can punish a member for their unruly behaviour by suspending them.
  • They also permit the moving of various kinds of motions and resolutions such as a motion of no confidence, motion of adjournment, motion of censure and calling attention notice as per the rules.
  • The speaker decides on the agenda to be taken up for discussion during the meeting.
  • The date of election of the speaker is fixed by the Governor of Punjab. Further, all comments and speeches made by members of the House are addressed to the speaker.
  • The speaker is answerable to the house.
  • Both the speaker and deputy speaker may be removed by a resolution passed by the majority of the members.
  • Speaker also gives recognition to the main opposite party as an Official Opposition and to the leader of that party in assembly as the Leader of Opposition.

Speaker

S. No. Name Constituency Tenure[2] Duration Party Assembly
Pre-Independence (1937-1947)
1 Shahab-ud-Din Virk [Sialkot 6 April 1937 16 March 1945 Template:Ayd Unionist Party 1st
2 Satya Prakash Singha West Central Punjab 21 March 1946 4 July 1947 Template:Ayd 2nd
After Independence (1947–present)
1 Kapur Singh Ludhiana East 1 November 1947 20 June 1951 Template:Ayd Indian National Congress -
2 Satya Pal Amritsar City North 5 May 1952 18 April 1954 Template:Ayd 1st
3 Gurdial Singh Dhillon Tarn Taran 18 May 1954 25 April 1957 Template:Ayd
Tarn Taran 25 April 1957 13 March 1962 Template:Ayd 2nd
4 Prabodh Chandra Gurdaspur 14 March 1962 18 March 1964 Template:Ayd 3rd
5 Harbans Lal Gupta Bathinda 25 March 1964 19 March 1967 Template:Ayd
6 Joginder Singh Mann Sirhind 21 March 1967 13 March 1969 Template:Ayd Akali Dal - Tara Singh 4th
7 Darbara Singh Nakodar 14 March 1969 13 June 1971 Template:Ayd bgcolor="Template:Party color"| Independent 5th
Nakodar 22 March 1972 3 September 1973 Template:Ayd Indian National Congress 6th
8 Kewal Krishan Mukerian 25 September 1973 30 June 1977 Template:Ayd
9 Ravi Inder Singh Morinda 1 July 1977 27 June 1980 Template:Ayd bgcolor=Template:Party color| Shiromani Akali Dal 7th
10 Brij Bhushan Mehra Amritsar North 1 July 1980 13 October 1985 Template:Ayd Indian National Congress (Indira) 8th
(9) Ravi Inder Singh Morinda 15 October 1985 27 May 1986 Template:Ayd rowspan=2 bgcolor= Template:Party color | Shiromani Akali Dal 9th
11 Surjit Singh Minhas Adampur 2 June 1986 15 March 1992 Template:Ayd
12 Harcharan Singh Ajnala Ajnala 17 March 1992 9 June 1993 Template:Ayd Indian National Congress (Indira) 10th
13 Harnam Das Johar Ludhiana West 21 July 1993 23 November 1996 Template:Ayd
14 Dilbagh Singh Daleke Tarn Taran 23 December 1996 2 March 1997 Template:Ayd
15 Charanjit Singh Atwal Kum Kalan 4 March 1997 20 March 2002 Template:Ayd bgcolor=Template:Party color| Shiromani Akali Dal 11th
(8) Kewal Krishan Mukerian 21 March 2002 15 March 2007 Template:Ayd Indian National Congress 12th
16 Nirmal Singh Kahlon Fatehgarh Churian 16 March 2007 19 March 2012 Template:Ayd rowspan=2 bgcolor= Template:Party color | Shiromani Akali Dal 13th[3]
(15) Charanjit Singh Atwal Payal 20 March 2012 27 March 2017 Template:Ayd 14th
17 Rana KP Singh Anandpur Sahib 27 March 2017 11 March 2022 Template:Ayd Indian National Congress 15th
18 Kultar Singh Sandhwan Kotkapura 21 March 2022 Incumbent Template:Age in years and days bgcolor= Template:Party color | Aam Aadmi Party 16th

Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker is the vice-presiding officer of the Vidhan Sabha. Acts as the presiding officer in case of leave or absence caused by death or illness of the Speaker.

List of Deputy Speakers

Color keys for the Party of Deputy Speaker

S. No. Name Constituency Tenure[4] Duration Party
Pre-Independence (1937-1947)
1. Dasaundha Singh Jagraon 6 April 1937 7 April 1941 Template:Ayd Unionist Party
2. Gurbachan Singh Jullundur West 22 April 1941 16 March 1945 Template:Ayd
3. Kapur Singh Ludhiana East 26 March 1946 4 July 1947 Template:Ayd
After Independence (1947–1966)
1. Thakur Panchan Chand Kangra North 3 November 1947 20 March 1951 Template:Ayd Indian National Congress
2. Shanno Devi Amritsar City West 26 March 1951 20 June 1951 Template:Ayd
3. Gurdial Singh Dhillon Jhabal 10 May 1952 17 May 1954 Template:Ayd
4. Sarup Singh Narnaund 19 May 1954 31 March 1957 Template:Ayd
(4) Hansi 25 April 1957 28 February 1962 Template:Ayd
5. Shanno Devi Jagadhri 19 March 1962 31 October 1966 Template:Ayd
Post- Reorganisation (1966 - Present)
6. Jagjit Singh Chohan Tanda 27 March 1967 27 November 1967 Template:Ayd Akali Dal - Sant Fateh Singh
7. Baldev Singh 8 December 1967 23 August 1968 Template:Ayd
8. Bikramajit Singh Bajwa Batala 20 March 1969 24 April 1970 Template:Ayd rowspan=2 bgcolor=Template:Party color| Bharatiya Jana Sangh
(8) Batala 28 July 1970 13 October 1971 Template:Ayd
9. Kewal Krishan Mukerian 28 March 1972 25 September 1973 Template:Ayd Indian National Congress
10. Nasib Singh Gill Zira 28 September 1973 30 April 1977 Template:Ayd
11. Panna Lal Nayyar Batala 8 July 1977 17 February 1980 Template:Ayd bgcolor=Template:Party color| Janata Party
12. Guizar Singh Nathana 8 July 1980 26 June 1985 Template:Ayd Indian National Congress (Indira)
13. Nirmal Singh Kahlon Fatehgarh Churian 5 November 1985 6 May 1986 Template:Ayd rowspan=2 bgcolor=Template:Party color| Shiromani Akali Dal
14. Jaswant Singh Sidhu Mansa 2 June 1986 5 March 1988 Template:Ayd
15. Romesh Chander Dogra Dasuya 7 April 1992 7 January 1996 Template:Ayd Indian National Congress (Indira)
16. Naresh Thakur Hoshiarpur 28 February 1996 11 February 1997 Template:Ayd
17. Swarna Ram Phagwara 18 June 1997 26 July 1997 Template:Ayd Bharatiya Janata Party
18. Baldev Raj Chawla Amritsar North 23 December 1997 31 December 1999 Template:Ayd
19. Satpal Gosain Ludhiana East 5 September 2000 24 February 2002 Template:Ayd
20. Darbari Lal Amritsar Central 26 June 2002 10 March 2003 Template:Ayd Indian National Congress
21. Bir Devinder Singh Kharar 27 March 2003 9 July 2004 Template:Ayd
(20) Darbari Lal Amritsar Central 12 July 2004 27 February 2007 Template:Ayd
(19) Satpal Gosain Ludhiana East 16 March 2007 14 April 2011 Template:Ayd Bharatiya Janata Party
22. Chuni Lal Bhagat Jalandhar South 13 June 2011 6 March 2012 Template:Ayd
23. Dinesh Singh Sujanpur 20 March 2012 11 March 2017 Template:Ayd
24. Ajaib Singh Bhatti Malout 16 June 2017 11 March 2022 Template:Ayd Indian National Congress
25. Jai Krishan Singh Garhshankar 30 June 2022 Incumbent Template:Age in years and days bgcolor= Template:Party color | Aam Aadmi Party

Pro tem Speaker

After a general election and the formation of a new government, a list of senior Members in Vidhan Sabha prepared by the Legislative Section is submitted to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, who selects a pro tem speaker who holds the office of Speaker until a full time speaker is elected. However,, in Punjab mostly the pro tem speaker become the full time Speaker. The appointment has to be approved by the Governor.[5]

The first meeting after the election when the speaker and the deputy speaker are selected by members of the Vidhan Sabha is held under the pro tem Speaker. In the absence of the speaker, the deputy speaker acts as speaker. In the absence of both, a committee of six members selected by the speaker will act as speaker according to their seniority.

The Speaker of the Assembly must:

In Punjab Legislative Assembly mostly Pro-tem speaker is elected as Speaker.

List of Pro tem Speakers

Sr. no. Year Pro-tem Speaker[6] Elected Speaker
Before Independence
1 1937 Raja Narendra Nath Shahab-ud-Di
2 1946 Satya Prakash Singha
After Independence
1 1952 Satyapal
2 1957 Gurdial Singh Dhillon
3 1962 Prabodh Chandra
4 1967 Lal Chand Sabharwal Joginder Singh Mann
5 1969 Darbara Singh
1972
6 1977 Ravi Inder Singh
7 1980 Gurdarshan Singh Brij Bhushan Mehra
(6) 1985 Ravi Inder Singh
8 1992 Harcharn Singh Ajnala
9 1997 Charnjit Singh Atwal
10 2002 Kewal Krishan
11 2007 Nirmal Singh Kahlon
(9) 2012 Charnjit Singh Atwal
12 2017 Rana Kanwar Pal Singh
13 2022 Inderbir Singh Nijjar Kultar Singh Sandhwan

References

  1. ↑ Functions and Position of Speaker
  2. ↑ Former speaker of punjab vidhan sabha
  3. ↑ Legislators' panels reconstituted. Tribuneindia.com(22 May 2010). Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  4. ↑ page xiii of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Compendium. Punjab Legislative Assembly. Retrieved on 25 September 2018.
  5. ↑ Pro tem Speaker: All you need to know about this parliamentary post, Ashok, Akash Deep. India Today(4 June 2014). Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  6. ↑ Pro tem speaker
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