Centre assures no Chandigarh bill will be introduced in Parliament

November 26, 2025

Abhishek Vij

City Beautiful Chandigarh was made the capital of undivided Punjab. In 1966, when the state was trifurcated, creating three separate states: Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh, it was still stated that Chandigarh would remain the capital of Punjab. Even though Punjabis protested agitatedly at that time, chanting “Khidiya Phool Gulab Da, Chandigarh Punjab Da,” it was decided that the Governor of Punjab would also be the administrator of Chandigarh. Haryana would continue to use the basic structure of Punjab. Years later, when Haryana sought land for its own Legislative Assembly, Punjab strongly opposed it. The process of establishing the Haryana Legislative Assembly stalled.

Currently, the Chandigarh administration is run jointly by officials from Punjab and Haryana, with a 60:40 ratio. Now, suddenly, the central government announced that Chandigarh was being considered under Article 240 of the Constitution, meaning Chandigarh would remain a Union Territory. It will have a separate governor, like Delhi or other Union Territories have lieutenant governors, and laws will be made directly for it. But as soon as this news broke, every aspect of Punjab became agitated. Punjab is very emotional about three things. First, Punjab University belongs to Punjabis. Recently, when the central government tried to make changes to its Senate and Syndicate, there was opposition. Students and farmers protested together, and the central government withdrew the ordinance. However, students are still protesting, demanding that the Senate and Syndicate elections be held as soon as possible to eliminate the risk of interference. Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu stated that the election date would be announced soon. However, students are protesting because of the lack of such an announcement. Second, a bill has now been introduced that would allow the President to directly make rules for Chandigarh. Not only the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, but also the opposition Congress and the BJP’s Sunil Jakhar have expressed opposition, saying that the Punjab BJP will not accept this. When protests began from all sides, the central government took a U-turn on this bill, similar to the one it took on the Punjab University order.

Now, the Union Home Ministry has issued clarifications. The ministry stated that it does not intend to introduce such a bill in the winter session of Parliament. “We were only proposing to expedite the passage of bills. We did not intend to change the administrative system of Chandigarh, nor did we intend to alter the existing ratio between Punjab and Haryana; this was merely an attempt to simplify the legal process.” Meanwhile, the BJP, Akali Dal, Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party unanimously stated that not an inch of Chandigarh’s land would be given to any other state.

Sunil Jakhar clarified that Chandigarh is an integral part of Punjab. The central government has only stated that such a proposal is under consideration, but there is no intention to introduce it now.
It will be finalized after consultation with the concerned states. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who has reacted sharply on this issue, also said that no decision should be taken without consulting them. Chandigarh and Punjab University are deeply emotional about the water issue. Changing this system would face strong opposition from all sections of Punjab. All political parties would join forces to raise their voices, as they have now. Therefore, it seems unlikely that the central government will take such action at this time, even though skeptics continue to question its intentions.