Whose capital is Chandigarh?

The claim: Chandigarh is not Punjab's alone. Haryana's leaders say it is a shared capital and that Haryana has never given up its place in it. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said in April 2022 that it "is and will remain the capital of Haryana and Punjab", and that Himachal Pradesh also has a share (The Tribune). Opposition leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said "Chandigarh belongs to Haryana if we go by the Shah Commission report" (The Tribune). Haryana's Vidhan Sabha resolved on 5 April 2022 that Haryana "continued to retain its right" to the joint capital (PTI, in The Tribune).

The sourced facts:

• Punjab's capital moved from Lahore to Shimla in 1947 and to Chandigarh in 1953. The Punjab Governor has administered the city since 1984 (The Tribune, 23 Nov 2025).
• On 1 November 1966 Section 4 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act formed the Union Territory of Chandigarh from parts of the Manimajra and Manauli kanungo circles. The section names no capital (Indian Kanoon). The boundary commission under Justice J. C. Shah had given all of Kharar tehsil to Haryana as Hindi-speaking, on 1951 census figures The Tribune calls "unreliable"; one member dissented, arguing Chandigarh should go to Punjab (The Tribune, 20 Nov 2024).
• Sant Fateh Singh fasted from 17 to 27 December 1966, with self-immolation threatened, over Chandigarh and the Punjabi-speaking areas left out, and ended it on assurances conveyed for Indira Gandhi. On 29 January 1970, during another fast, the Union Government announced that "the capital project area of Chandigarh should as a whole go to Punjab", with stipulations such as the transfer of Fazilka tehsil to Haryana (Encyclopaedia of Sikhism).
• In 1976 the Centre extended the shared status again (ThePrint). Clause 7.1 of the Rajiv-Longowal Accord of 24 July 1985 says "The Capital Project Area of Chandigarh will go to Punjab"; 7.3 fixed 26 January 1986 for that transfer and for areas going to Haryana in its place. The Mathew Commission ruled out the Fazilka-Abohar villages for lack of contiguity, and Rajiv Gandhi backed out, which The Tribune links to a Haryana demonstration led by Devi Lal. The Centre's stated reason was that the Commission failed to identify areas for Haryana; one columnist argues the real reason was fear of losing Hindu votes in Haryana (The Tribune, 30 Nov 2025).
• The Punjab Vidhan Sabha resolved on 1 April 2022 that Chandigarh was "created as the Capital of Punjab" and that when a state is divided "the capital remains with the parent state" (The Tribune). It had passed seven earlier resolutions (ThePrint). A 2011 Supreme Court judgment gives Himachal Pradesh 7.19 per cent of the city's land (ThePrint).
• In November 2025 a Bill to bring the city under Article 240 was listed for Parliament. The Union Home Ministry said "no final decision has been taken" and it had no plan to introduce a Bill in the winter session (IANS).

The Panthic answer: The Akali Dal's 1978 Ludhiana resolutions said Chandigarh, "originally raised as a Capital for Punjab", should be handed over to Punjab (AllAboutSikhs). Sant Harchand Singh Longowal signed the 1985 accord that holds clause 7.1. In November 2025 acting Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj said "Chandigarh was created by uprooting Punjab villages", and SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami announced that the SGPC would oppose the Bill with the Akali Dal (The Tribune). The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism lists the allocation of Chandigarh among issues left unresolved in 1966 that "still continue to rankle in the Punjabi consciousness". Bhai Ajmer Singh argues that 1966 was an incomplete victory: he lists Chandigarh, the Punjabi-speaking areas that went to Haryana and Himachal, and control of the rivers as what was withheld. In Vihveen Sadi Di Sikh Rajneeti he writes that the Anandpur Sahib Resolution answered exactly these gaps, and that the Sant's movement won its state on a Punjabi and not a Sikh ground, leaving Chandigarh out.