Bhim Sen Sachar (1 December 1894 – 18 January 1978) was an Indian politician who served three times as the Chief Minister of Punjab.

Early life

Sachar was born on 1 December 1894. He did BA and

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

and practiced law in

Gujranwala Gujranwala ( ur, , label=none; ) is a city and capital of Gujranwala Division located in Pakistan. It is also known as "City of Wrestlers" and is quite famous for its food. It is the 5th most populous city proper after Karachi, Lahore, Faisala ...

, which is now in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. He was attracted to the freedom movement and joined the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

party at a young age. In 1921, he was elected as the Secretary of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. By the time India gained independence in 1947, he was an important member of the party.

Years in Pakistan

Around the time of

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, Sachar accepted

citizenship of Pakistan Pakistani nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds Pakistani nationality. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951, which came into force on 13 April 1951. With few exceptions ...

and became a member of the First Pakistan Constituent Assembly. He later relinquished the Pakistan citizenship and returned to India.

Back in India

In 1949, the Congress selected him for the office of

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

. He took oath on 13 April 1949 and served until 18 October 1949. However, bitter factional politics in the state party unit between

Gopi Chand Bhargava Gopi Chand Bhargava (8 March 1889 – 26 December 1966) was the first Chief Minister of Punjab (India), Chief Minister of Punjab from 15 August 1947 to 13 April 1949, and again between 18 October 1949, to 20 June 1951, and for the third tim ...

and Sachar led to the first ever imposition of

President's rule In India, President's rule is the suspension of state government and imposition of direct Union government rule in a state. Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, if a state government is unable to function according to Constitutional ...

in any state in India under Article 365 of Indian Constitution.br>
The first elections in independent India were held in 1952 and the Punjab legislative assembly was formed for the first time that year. The Congress party won the provincial elections at this time, and Sachar became chief minister again, serving from 17 April 1952 to 23 January 1956. Bhim Sen Sachar was the father-in-law of famous journalist and former Indian Ambassador to the UK Kuldip Nayar. After he demitted office (due to internal party politics), Sachar was named governor of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

by the union government. He served from 1956 to 1957. He was then named governor of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and served from 1957 to 1962. During the Emergency, he was arrested and sent to jail with some other dissident leaders of Congress party, who belonged to the "old school" of the party and had spoken against the increasing authoritarianism of

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

and her son

Sanjay Sanjay, also spelled Sanjai, Sanjey, Sanje, Sanjaey and Sunjay, is a male given name of Sanskrit origin meaning "triumphant" (from Sañjaya) and may refer to: People * Sanjaya, an important character in the ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata'' * San ...

Personal life

Sachar was married at an early age to a girl of his own community, in a match arranged by parents. His son,

Rajinder Sachar Rajindar Sachar (22 December 1923 – 20 April 2018) was an Indian lawyer and a former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. He was a member of United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and also served as a ...

(b. 1923) was a lawyer and judge who served as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, and was famously the Chairman of the

Sachar Committee The Sachar Committee was a seven-member High Level Committee in India established in March 2005 by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The committee was headed by former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Rajinder Sachar to study the social, econom ...

which produced a report on the status of religious minorities in India. Another son, Capt. Vijay Sachar of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

, was killed in action in Gaza, where he was serving in the Indian contingent of the

UNEF UNEF may refer to: * United Nations Emergency Force, a UN force deployed in the Middle East in 1956 * UNEF, a designation for Extra-Fine thread series of Standard Unified Screw Threads (ANSI B1.1) * Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (Natio ...

. Veteran Indian journalist, left-wing activist and peace activist

Kuldip Nayar Kuldip Nayar (14 August 1923 – 23 August 2018) was an Indian journalist, syndicated columnist, human rights activist, author and former High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom noted for his long career as a left-wing political com ...

was Sachar's son-in-law.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sachar, Bhim Sen Indian National Congress politicians Chief Ministers of Punjab, India Governors of Andhra Pradesh Governors of Odisha 1894 births 1978 deaths People from Peshawar Punjabi people Punjab, India MLAs 1952–1957 Indians imprisoned during the Emergency (India) Indian independence activists from Punjab (British India) Prisoners and detainees of British India Chief ministers from Indian National Congress