What is the capital of Punjab?

The correct answer is Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab. Chandigarh serves as the administrative and legislative headquarters of Punjab, housing the state secretariat, the Legislative Assembly, and the offices of the Governor and Chief Minister. Notably, Chandigarh, India's first planned city after independence, was designed by the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, and as a Union Territory, Chandigarh serves as the joint capital of both Punjab and Haryana. The other options given in this Punjab question are capitals of different Indian states, and candidates often confuse them because Static GK questions on state capitals are frequently tested together in a single set. Kolkata is the capital of West Bengal, not Punjab. Itanagar is the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, not Punjab. Patna is the capital of Bihar, not Punjab. None of these cities administers Punjab; only Chandigarh holds that constitutional status. Competitive exams such as SSC CGL, SSC CHSL, State PSC, and Railway exams often feature a Punjab question like this one on Chandigarh, which shows why questions on Indian state capitals are considered high-scoring, since they test direct factual recall rather than complex reasoning. Remember Chandigarh as the capital of Punjab, and clearly distinguish it from the distractor capitals used here — Kolkata, Itanagar, Patna — to avoid marking the wrong answer under exam-time pressure.