Government of India

What it is: The Government of India, or Union government, is the Republic of India's executive arm under the Constitution, in force since 26 January 1950. Executive power rests with the Union Council of Ministers under the Prime Minister, answerable to the Lok Sabha. It is distinct from Parliament, which makes the laws (Wikipedia).

Its part in this history: It is the other party to most Panthic political demands since 1947.

• 1950: Sardar Hukam Singh refused to sign the Constitution because the Sikhs' protection as a religious minority was not secured (Encyclopaedia of Sikhism).
• 1966: on 21 March the Government told the Lok Sabha it accepted in principle a linguistic reorganisation of Punjab (the Act's text; the Boundary Commission's report). On 18 April the Home Minister announced that a commission would settle the boundary before legislation, and a Government resolution of 23 April appointed the Punjab Boundary Commission (the Commission's report). The Encyclopaedia says Indira Gandhi conceded the Punjabi-speaking state on 23 April. The Punjab Reorganization Bill reached the Lok Sabha on 3 September, and the state came into being on 1 November 1966, with Chandigarh and the river waters unresolved (Encyclopaedia).
• 16 to 17 October 1973: the Akali Dal's working committee adopted the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, asking that the Centre be limited to Defence, Foreign Relations, Currency and Communications. The 1978 Ludhiana conference urged recasting Centre-state relations on federal principles (Encyclopaedia).
• 6 October 1983: President's Rule was imposed in Punjab the day after the bus killings of 5 October (Ramachandra Guha, in Scroll). It lasted to 29 September 1985, and a second spell ran from 11 June 1987 to 25 February 1992 (Wikipedia).
• June 1984: Guha writes that the Prime Minister decided, after much reluctance, that the armed Sikhs had to be flushed out of the Harmandir Sahib complex. General Brar was briefed on 31 May and the assault began on the night of 5 June (Scroll).
• 24 July 1985: Rajiv Gandhi and Sant Harchand Singh Longowal signed the Accord, which seemed to promise Chandigarh's transfer, rehabilitation of Sikh Army deserters and compensation. The Tribune says most of the promises were never implemented. Longowal was shot dead on 20 August 1985.
• 2020 to 2021: Parliament passed three farm laws in September 2020. After farmers camped near Delhi for more than a year, both houses repealed them on 29 November 2021 without a debate (Al Jazeera).

Where it stands: It is the sitting Union government. The latest episode recorded here is the repeal of the farm laws, 14 months after they passed.