Lachhman Singh Gill

Lachhman Singh Gill was an Akali legislator and government contractor who broke the first Akali-led ministry in November 1967 and became Chief Minister of Punjab with Congress support. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says he was born at Jagraon in Ludhiana district and started life in 1937 as a government contractor; Khushwant Singh gives his village as Chuhar Chuk in Ferozepur district.

Key moments

• 1 March 1961 and 7 August 1965: the records Gurmit Singh prints show him with Sant Fateh Singh at the second meeting with Jawaharlal Nehru and at the talks with Lal Bahadur Shastri.
• 20 November 1961: Gurmit Singh says he sent Master Tara Singh a notice like Jiwan Singh Umranangal's, asking him to resign, and was expelled; Gurmit Singh calls him a government contractor who began the disintegration of the Akali Dal. The Encyclopaedia says he sided with the group led by Sant Fateh Singh in 1962, and Tara Singh suspended him and Umranangal on 4 July 1962 (Gurmit Singh dates their expulsion 8 July).
• 8 March 1967: he was sworn in as minister for education and revenue in Gurnam Singh's ministry. In April, the Encyclopaedia says, he joined Giani Harcharan Singh Hudiara to form a separate group.
• 22 to 25 November 1967: Gurmit Singh calls him an aspirant for the Chief Ministership and says he defected from the United Front on 22 November with his supporters, forming the Punjab Janata Party of 17 MLAs, which the Congress legislative party then backed. He was sworn in as Chief Minister on 25 November (Khushwant Singh says 27 November), taking over from Gurnam Singh.
• December 1967: his government passed the Punjab Official Language Act, which made Punjabi the official language. The Encyclopaedia says the Assembly passed the bill on 19 December and the Governor assented on 29 December. Khushwant Singh says Gill boasted that he had done for Punjabi what even Maharaja Ranjit Singh had been unable to do.
• The SGPC: Gurmit Singh says he had a case registered against Sant Chanan Singh and other SGPC office-bearers for embezzlement of gurdwara funds. Khushwant Singh, who says Gill had once been secretary of the SGPC, writes that he had Chanan Singh arrested.
• 23 August 1968: the Congress withdrew its support and his ministry ended (the Encyclopaedia says 20 August). Gurmit Singh says the harassment of Sant Fateh Singh and his associates under Gill's government pushed the Sant towards seeking political autonomy for the Sikhs.
• 1969: Khushwant Singh writes that Gurnam Singh's new government had Gill arrested and charged with corruption, and that Gill filed an election petition against Gurnam Singh before his sudden death. The Encyclopaedia says he died of a heart attack at Chandigarh on 26 April 1969; Khushwant Singh's note says 16 April.

Khushwant Singh adds that Jagjit Singh Chohan was Finance Minister in his government for a while. Gill is remembered as the Akali defector who ended the first Akali-led ministry in November 1967 and, as Chief Minister, passed the Official Language Act.