Gurnam Singh second term

Who: Justice Gurnam Singh, leader of the Akali Dal legislature party, and the Jana Sangh, the Akalis' main partner, with outside support from the Communist parties. The choice of leader was made by a three-man sub-committee of Sant Fateh Singh, Sant Chanan Singh (the SGPC president) and Bhupinder Singh.

What: Gurnam Singh had headed Punjab's first non-Congress ministry in March 1967, which fell on 22 November 1967 when Lachhman Singh Gill led a breakaway Akali group to the Congress side. Gill's ministry lost Congress support on 20 August 1968, and the state went under President's rule. The Akali groups reunited, and the mid-term poll of February 1969 gave the Akali Dal 43 of 104 seats, Congress 38, the Jana Sangh 8, the CPI 4 and the CPI(M) 2. The Akalis and the Jana Sangh together held 51 seats, just short of a majority, so the ministry relied on the Left from outside.

The Akali legislature party unanimously elected Gurnam Singh, and a five-member ministry was sworn in at Raj Bhawan on 17 February 1969. The Tribune named his colleagues as Atma Singh and Sohan Singh Bassi for the Akalis, and Krishan Lal and Balramdas Tandon for the Jana Sangh.

The partnership soon strained. According to Pramod Kumar's study, the partners differed over language, Centre-State relations and the status of Chandigarh, and the Jana Sangh was unhappy at not getting the Finance portfolio. Gurnam Singh also fell out with Sant Chanan Singh over abolishing the Legislative Council. ThePrint says a dispute over a Rajya Sabha nomination led the Jana Sangh to withdraw. Gurnam Singh spoke as outgoing Chief Minister in the Assembly on 26 March 1970, and Parkash Singh Badal was sworn in on 27 March 1970.

Where: Chandigarh, where the ministry took its oath at Raj Bhawan.

Why it mattered: The ministry lasted about 13 months. It was the second Akali-led government in three years to fall to splits and a partner's withdrawal, and it left the Akali Dal divided again: ThePrint notes that Gurnam Singh later formed a separate Akali faction that contested the 1972 elections. It also set up Badal's first term as Chief Minister, again with Jana Sangh support.