Bathinda (Punjab): Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Punjab minister Tota Singh (81) passed away at Fortis Hospital in Mohali on Saturday after a prolonged illness. Jathedar Tota Singh was undergoing treatment at Fortis Hospital in Mohali for a long time and was recently visited by Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal to enquire about his health. Singh had served as the Agriculture and Education Minister in the Akali government. He was the senior vice-president and a member of the Core Committee of the SAD. He was also a member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.
Singh was elected as a legislator for the first time from the Moga Assembly seat in 1997. He was inducted into the Cabinet as the Education Minister in the Parkash Singh Badal-led government. He was re-elected from Moga in the 2002 Assembly elections, but he lost in 2007. Singh was elected from the Dharamkot Assembly seat in 2012 and became the Agriculture Minister. Singh, however, lost the Assembly elections in 2017 and 2022. Tota Singh was born on March 2, 1941, at Didar Singh Wala village in the Moga district. Tota Singh had completed his schooling at his village for further studies he had enrolled at DM College in Moga.
