{{Short description|Indian politician}} {{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Bhim Sen Sachar | image = File:Bhim Sen Sachar.png | caption = | office = 2nd Chief Minister of Punjab | term_start = 13 April 1949 | term_end = 18 October 1949 | predecessor = Gopi Chand Bhargava | successor = Gopi Chand Bhargava | term_start2 = 17 April 1952 | term_end2 = 23 January 1956 | predecessor2 = President's rule | successor2 = Partap Singh Kairon | office3 = Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly | term_start3 = 1942 | term_end3 = 1945 | predecessor3 = Sardar Sampuran Singh | successor3 = Iftikhar Hussain Khan Mamdot | office4 = 5th Governor of Odisha | term_start4 = 12 September 1956 | term_end4 = 31 July 1957 | predecessor4 = P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja | successor4 = Y. N. Sukthankar | office5 = 2nd Governor of Andhra Pradesh | term_start5 = 1957 | term_end5 = 1962 | predecessor5 = Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi | successor5 = S. M. Shrinagesh | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1894|12|01}} | birth_place = Peshawar, Punjab, British India<br> (now in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) <ref>{{cite book|title=Who's who: Punjab Freedom Fighters, Volume 1|date=1972|publisher=Punjabi University|location=Patiala|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jp8BAAAAMAAJ&q=bhim+sen+sachar+peshawar|accessdate=19 June 2014}}</ref> | death_date = {{Death date and age|1978|01|18|1894|12|01|df=yes}} | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = | citizenship = British India (1894–1947)<br/>Pakistan (1947–1949)<br/>India (1949–1978) | party = Indian National Congress | other_party = | spouse = | children = | profession = Politician | Alma Mater = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Bhim Sen Sachar''' (1 December 1894 – 18 January 1978)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rajbhavanorissa.gov.in/formergovernor.asp |title=Our Governors |accessdate=2 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225081608/http://www.rajbhavanorissa.gov.in/formergovernor.asp |archivedate=25 February 2012 |publisher=Rajbhavanorissa.gov.in}}</ref><ref>[http://www.mapsofindia.com/who-is-who/history/bhim-sen-sachar.html Bhim Sen Sachar Biography, History and Facts]. Mapsofindia.com.</ref> was an Indian politician who served three times as the Chief Minister of Punjab.
==Early life== Sachar was born on 1 December 1894. He did BA and LLB in Lahore and practiced law in Gujranwala,<ref>{{cite web|title=B. S. Sachar|url=http://www.indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Alpha/B/B.S.%20SACHAR|publisher=India Post|date=14 August 1986|accessdate=12 June 2014}}</ref> 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.
==Years in Pakistan== Around the time of Independence, Sachar accepted citizenship of Pakistan and became a member of the First Pakistan Constituent Assembly.<ref>{{Cite web|title=A one nation theory|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/698797-a-one-nation-theory|access-date=2021-05-05|website=www.thenews.com.pk|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Constituent Assembly of Pakistan debates|url=https://digital.soas.ac.uk/LOAC000053/00016|access-date=2021-05-05|website=digital.soas.ac.uk|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=January 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> He later relinquished the Pakistan citizenship and returned to India.
==Back in India== thumb|Former Chief Minister of Punjab Bhim Sen Sachar (Left) and Partap Singh Kairon (Right) attending Congress working committee meeting in Amrirsar on 8 February 1956. thumb|(Left to Right) Bhim Sen Sachar, Giani Gurmukh Singh Musaffir, Govind Ballabh Pant, Maulana Abul Kalam Azaad, Jawahar Lal Nehru and Pratap Singh Kairon at Amritsar Airport on 6 February 1956. In 1949, the Congress selected him for the office of Chief Minister of Punjab. He took oath on 13 April 1949 and served until 18 October 1949.<ref name="Arora1991">{{cite book|author=Subhash Chander Arora|title=Current Issues and Trends in Centre-state Relations: A Global View|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=is3EsOhHAOEC&pg=PA60|year=1991|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-307-0|page=60}}</ref> However, bitter factional politics in the state party unit between Gopi Chand Bhargava and Sachar led to the first ever imposition of President's rule in any state in India under Article 365 of the Constitution of India.<ref>https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/opinion/4067-congress-factionalism-gave-life-article-356</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://punjabassembly.nic.in/members/showcm.asp |title=Chief Ministers |accessdate=21 December 2006 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213075808/http://punjabassembly.nic.in/members/showcm.asp |archivedate=13 February 2007 |publisher=punjabassembly.nic.in}}</ref>
Bhim Sen Sachar was the father-in-law of famous journalist and former Indian Ambassador to the UK Kuldip Nayar.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sikh24.com/2014/07/05/july-4-1955-when-indian-police-entered-darbar-sahib-with-shoes/#.XwCqxChKgdU|title = July 4, 1955: When Indian Police Entered Darbar Sahib with Shoes|date = 5 July 2014}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite book|author=Janak Raj Jai|title=Narasimha Rao, the Best Prime Minister?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nFt32ZyyUmUC|year=1996|publisher=Regency Publications|isbn=978-81-86030-30-1|page=101}}</ref>
==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,<ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20041211/haryana.htm Punjab ignores, Haryana honours Bhim Sen Sachar]. ''The Tribune'', Chandigarh, India. 10 December 2004</ref> and was famously the Chairman of the Sachar Committee which produced a report on the status of religious minorities in India. Another son, Capt. Vijay Sachar of the Indian Army, was killed in action in Gaza, where he was serving in the Indian contingent of the UNEF.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/delhi/news-detail-510371|title=Must boost public investment in health, says Narayana Murthy}}</ref> Veteran Indian journalist, left-wing activist and peace activist Kuldip Nayar was Sachar's son-in-law.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-gov}} {{succession box | before= C.M. Trivedi | title = Governor of Andhra Pradesh | years = 1957–196 | after = S.M. Shrinagesh }} {{s-end}} {{Chief Ministers of Punjab (India)}}{{Governor of Andhra Pradesh}}{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sachar, Bhim Sen}} Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Punjab, India Category:Chief ministers of Punjab, India Category:Governors of Andhra Pradesh Category:Governors of Odisha Category:1894 births Category:1978 deaths Category:Politicians from Peshawar Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Category:Pakistani emigrants to India Category:Naturalised citizens of India Category:Punjab, India MLAs 1952–1957 Category:Indian people imprisoned during the Emergency (India) Category:Indian independence activists from Punjab Province (British India) Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India Category:Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Category:Leaders of the opposition in Punjab, India