Bhagwant Singh Mann, better known by his stage name "Jugnu", is an Indian politician, social worker, former comedian, singer and actor who is currently serving as the 17th Chief Minister of Punjab since 2022. He represents the Dhuri Assembly constituency in the Punjab Legislative Assembly since 2022 and is also serving as the state convener of Aam Aadmi Party, Punjab since 2019. Previously, he was a member of the lower house of Parliament from Sangrur from 2014 to 2022.
Although India is a parliamentary democracy, the country's politics has become dynastic or with high level of nepotism, possibly due to the absence of party organizations, independent civil-society associations which mobilize support for a party, or centralized financing of elections. The dynastic phenomenon is present at the national, state, regional, and district level. The Nehru–Gandhi family has produced three Indian prime ministers, and family members have largely led the Congress party since 1978. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also has several dynastic leaders. In addition to the major national parties, other national and regional parties such as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal Secular, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Kerala Congress, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, Indian Union Muslim League, AIMIM, and the Nationalist Congress Party are all dominated by families, mostly those of the party founders.
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.
Jagmeet Singh Brar is an Indian politician, lawyer, writer and poet who belonged to the Shiromani Akali Dal. He represents the Lokhit Abhiyan political party.
Rajinder Kaur Bhattal is an Indian politician and member of Congress who served as the 14th Chief Minister of Punjab from 1996 to 1997 and 2nd Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab from 2004 to 2007. She is the first and so far only female to hold the office of Chief Minister in Punjab. Overall she is 8th female Chief Minister and 3rd female deputy chief minister in India. Since 1992 she has won from Lehra Assembly Constituency five terms consecutively.
Partap Singh Bajwa is an Indian politician having served as a member of the Lok Sabha representing Gurdaspur in Punjab from 2009 to 2014. He is a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Punjab.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal is an Indian politician and a former Union Cabinet Minister of Food Processing Industries in the Government of India and Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Bathinda. She is a member of Shiromani Akali Dal Party. Her husband Sukhbir Singh Badal is former deputy chief minister of Punjab and the president of Shiromani Akali Dal. She resigned from the cabinet on 17 September 2020 to protest against few farmer related ordinances and legislation.
Bikram Singh Majithia is an Indian politician and a former cabinet minister in the Punjab Government. He won 2007 Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections from the Majitha constituency, and again won in 2012 and 2017. He belongs to Shiromani Akali Dal and is president of its Youth Wing, Youth Akali Dal.
Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa is an Indian politician and a member of Indian National Congress. He is a Member of Punjab Legislative Assembly (MLA) and represents Fatehgarh Churian. He heads the Ministries of Rural Development Now Animal Husbandry Panchayats and Water Supply & Sanitation for the Government of Punjab.
Parkash Singh Badal was an Indian politician and Sikh rights advocate who served as the 8th Chief Minister of Punjab from 1970 to 1971, from 1977 to 1980, from 1997 to 2002, and from 2007 to 2017, the longest serving Chief Minister of Punjab till date. He was also Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from 1972 to 1977, 1980 to 1983 and from 2002 to 2007 and the 11th Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare in the Morarji Desai ministry from 1977 to 1977. He was the patron of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), a Sikh-centered regional political party, and the president of the party from 1995 to 2008, when he was replaced by his son Sukhbir Singh Badal. As the patron of SAD he exercised a strong influence on the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.
Sukhbir Singh Badal is an Indian politician and businessman who served twice as the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab and is currently the president of Shiromani Akali Dal, and was a member of Parliament from the Firozpur Lok Sabha constituency. He is the son of Parkash Singh Badal, who has served five times as the Chief Minister of Punjab. He is influential over the Sikh organizations of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Badal and his family have ownership stakes in an array of businesses- including real estate, transport and other activities.
Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer is an Indian politician affiliated with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He is currently Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Sangrur constituency and is the Floor leader of Aam Aadmi Party in Lok Sabha. He also is a two time ex-member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly from Barnala constituency. He was also a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Punjab. He first won the Legislative Assembly elections from the Aam Aadmi Party in 2017 by defeating the Indian National Congress's candidate Kewal Singh Dhillon. In the 2022 Legislative Assembly elections, he again won the Barnala constituency by a huge margin by securing almost 50% of the votes polled. He held various important portfolios in the Mann ministry, like the Minister of the Department of Higher Education & Languages, Governance Reforms, Sports & Youth Services, Science Technology & Environment and Printing & Stationery. He is also the in-charge of the Youth Wing of the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab.
Chaudhary Jagjit Singh was an Indian politician and member of Punjab Legislative Assembly.
Legislative Assembly elections were held in Punjab on 20 February 2022 to elect the 117 members of the 16th Assembly of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 10 March 2022.
The 1962 Punjab Legislative Assembly election was the Third Vidhan Sabha election of the state when the Indian National Congress emerged as the largest party with 90 seats in the 154-seat legislature in the election. The Shiromani Akali Dal became the official opposition, holding 16 seats. From 5 July 1966 to 1 November 1966, Assembly was under suspension.
The 1969 Punjab Legislative Assembly election was the fifth Vidhan Sabha election of the state. This was the second hung assembly. Shiromani Akali Dal emerged as the largest party with 43 seats in the 104-seat legislature in the election. The Indian National Congress became the second, holding 38 seats. On 13 June 1971, Assembly dissolved prematurely and president rule was imposed.
Chetan Singh Jouramajra is an Indian politician, and a member of Aam Aadmi Party. He is Member of Legislative Assembly from Samana, was elected in 2022 Punjab assembly elections, and also serves as a president of Patiala district rural unit of the party. In 2019, he was shot saving a girl from kidnapping. In 2022, he won in Samana by margin of 39,713.
Barinder Kumar Goyal Vakeel is an Indian politician and the MLA representing the Lehra Assembly constituency in the Punjab Legislative Assembly. He is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party. He has contested the election in 1992 but lost to Rajinder Kaur Bhatthal. But in 2022, against him Bibi Rajinder Kaur Bhatthal, ex CM, was not able to save her deposit money. He defeated S. Parminder Singh Dhindsa, sitting MLA and ex. cabinet minister, Bibi Rajinder Kaur Bhatthal, ex CM and S. Gobind Singh Longowal, ex President of SGPC ex cabinet Minister with a huge margin. He is chairman of committee on subordinate legislation. He is known for his words and his social services. Before this, Barinder Kumar Goyal has made a local level social manch named as Lehra Vikas Manch (LVM). LVM contested the elections of municipal council of Lehra in Feb 2021 and surprised the Punjab with the results. During these elections, perhaps Lehra was the only municipality in Punjab, where the ruling party was not able to prove the majority. His efforts for the development of constituency are remarkable. He raised the issue of Ghaggar river, roads, vacant posts in the Punjab Legislative assembly. On 23.09.2024, he joins the cabinet of Sardar Bhagwant Singh Maan as water resource, mining and soil and water conservation minister. He was elected as the MLA in the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election.
