Parkash Singh Badal Biography

About Parkash Singh Badal

Parkash Singh Badal is an Indian politician belonging to the Sikh-centric regional political party Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). He was the chief minister of the northwestern Indian state of Punjab till his party was defeated by the congress in assembly elections in 2017. The congress party formed the government in the state in March 2017.

SAD had an alliance with the BJP but lost miserably. Badal has served as CM of Punjab four times before in 1970, 1977, 1997 and 2007. He has also served as a union minister in former Prime Minister Morarji Desai's government. He was the president of Shiromani Akali Dal from 1996 to 2008. He is one of the richest politicians in India.Parkash Singh Badal is a patron of SAD and has a strong influence on the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. He is one of the most influential Sikh leader worldwide. He was awarded him the second-highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, in 2015 the government of India.

Political Career

Parkash Singh Badal's foray in politics began in the year 1947 when he was elected the leader of his village. He eventually became the Sarpanch of the village Badal and Chairman of Block Samiti in Lambi. He was elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha for the first time in 1957 on Congress ticket. He left the Congress due to differences with the then chief minister of Punjab and joined the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

Badal left his office after facing defeat in the 1967 state assembly elections. He was re-elected in 1969 and joined the SAD-led government in Punjab. A year later he became the state's chief minister but his term lasted for only a year due to infighting within the party and eventual dissolution of the government. Badal was reelected to the Punjab legislative assembly continually from 1969 to 2012 with the year 1992 being the only exception as his party boycotted the state elections that year.

He has served as Minister for Panchayati Raj, Community Development, Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in Punjab government. He was the Leader of the Opposition in 1972, 1980 and 2002. He has been elected to the Vidhan Sabha as many as ten times. He led a boycott of the state assembly elections by the Akalis in 1992. Badal has also served as a union minister of agriculture and irrigation in former prime minister Morarji Desai's government in 1977.

Badal spent time in jail a number of times during the emergency era. He was also imprisoned in the 1980s when there was Sikh agitation demanding greater autonomy. Badal was arrested over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link issue. At another time, he tore pages of the Indian constitution while protesting though he apologised for his action later. He clinched his assembly seat in the 1985 state elections which was won by the SAD. For the 2007 state elections, the SAD allied itself with the BJP and won a comfortable majority. The two parties continued their alliance for the 2012 assembly polls and won majority again. Badal retained his post and became the first person to serve two consecutive terms as chief minister of Punjab. He also became India’s oldest chief minister after having been the youngest in that post in 1970 when he took office for the first time. In 2008, he stepped down as the party president to be succeeded by his son Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Achievements & Controversies

• Parkash Singh Badal was awarded the country's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2015.
• Badal was given the title of Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum ("Jewel of the religion, pride of the community") by the Akal Takht in 2011.
• Badal and his family faced charges of corruption in 2003. They were, however, acquitted of the charges in 2010.
• Parkash Singh Badal has been very vocal about his stand in the Sutlej-Yamuna Link issue. He has said that the proposed Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal is against the interests of Punjab's farmers and that the water of Sutlej cannot be shared with any other state.