India, Nov. 24 -- The recent discussion around bringing Chandigarh under the scope of Article 240 - followed quickly by the Union home ministry's clarification that no Bill is being moved - has once again pushed into public view a debate that never truly disappeared. The controversy lasted only a few days, yet it revived a question that has remained unresolved for nearly six decades: What should be the rightful status of Chandigarh in relation to Punjab?

For Punjab, this is not a new conversation. It is an old claim resurfacing - a constitutional gap that has persisted since 1966, a political promise made in 1985 but never implemented, and a lived reality in which Punjab remains the only state in India without its own capital. No other s...