Monitoring Desk,26-Apr; Parkash Singh Badal, former Chief Minister of Punjab and senior leader of Shiromani Akali Dal passed away in Mohali last evening, April 25. He was 95. Mr. Badal, a five-time chief minister, was admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital on Sunday following a complaint of difficulty in breathing.
President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have condoled the demise of the SAD leader. Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur has also expressed condolences on the demise of the leader. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be paying tribute to the departed leader at SAD Headquarters in Chandigarh today. Later, his mortal remains will be taken to his native village Badal in Punjab and his last rites will be performed tomorrow afternoon. The government has declared two days of national mourning today and tomorrow.
Prakash Singh Badal was born on 8 December 1927 at Abul Khurana in Punjab province. Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch started his political career in 1947 as a sarpanch of his native village Badal and went on to become the Chief Minister of Punjab for five times. Prakash Singh Badal remained active in politics throughout his life. He entered the state Assembly from Malout in 1957 as the Congress nominee and in 1969, entered the Assembly from Gidderbaha seat on the SAD ticket. He was Shiromani Akali Dal President from 1995 to 2008 and was elected to Assembly for ten times, losing only twice.
Badal became the Chief Minister for the first time in 1970. Heading the coalition government, he was the youngest Chief Minister. But the government did not complete its term. Later, he became the Chief minister for four times, from 1977 to 1980, 1997 to 2002, 2007 to 2012, and from 2012 to 2017.
He was also a leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Assembly from 1972 to 1977, from 1980 to 1983, and from 2002 to 2007. In 1977, he briefly joined Morarji Desai’s government as the Agriculture minister at the Centre. The Government of India awarded him the second-highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, in 2015.
