Bhim Sen Sachar

Bhim Sen Sachar
2nd Chief Minister of Punjab
In office April, 1949 – October, 1949
Preceded by	Gopi Chand Bhargava
Succeeded by	Gopi Chand Bhargava
In office April, 1952 – January, 1956
Preceded by	President's rule
Succeeded by	Pratap Singh Kairon
Personal details
Born	(1894-12-01)1 December 1894 Peshawar, Punjab, British India (now in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) [1]
Died	18 January 1978(1978-01-18) (aged 83)
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Indian National Congress
Profession	Politician

Bhim Sen Sachar (1 December 1894^[2] – 18 January 1978^[3]) was an Indian politician. He was the Chief Minister of Punjab, twice.

Biography

Sachar was born on 1 December 1894. He did BA and LLB in Lahore and practiced law in Gujranwala,^[4] which is now in Pakistan. He was attracted to the freedom movement and joined the Indian National Congress 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.

In 1949, the party selected him for the office of Chief Minister of Punjab. He took oath on 13 April 1949 and served until 18 October 1949. 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.^[5]

After he demitted office (due to internal party politics), Sachar was named governor of Odisha by the union government. He served from 1956 to 1957. He was then named governor of Andhra Pradesh 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 and her son Sanjay.^[6]

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 (b. 1923) was a lawyer and judge who served as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court,^[7] and was famously the Chairman of the Sachar Committee which produced a controversial report on the status of religious minorities in India. Veteran Indian journalist, left-wing activist and peacenik Kuldip Nayar is Sachar's son-in-law.

References