Chandigarh: Former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal passed away on Tuesday evening. He was 95. Badal was admitted to Fortis Hospital in Mohali on Friday following breathing difficulties.
Badal was admitted to the Fortis Hospital in Mohali over a week ago after he complained of uneasiness in breathing. He breathed his last around 8 pm, hospital officials said according to PTI. Badal was in the intensive care unit of the hospital where doctors had been closely monitoring his health condition.
Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had enquired about the health of the veteran leader and prayed for his speedy recovery. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also had a conversation with Sukhbir Badal over his father's health.
A veteran politician, Badal served as Punjab Chief Minister for four terms, the first time in 1970 when he became the youngest chief minister of an Indian state. He completed his most recent term in March 2017. Born on 8 December 1927 in Abul Khurana village near Malout in Punjab's Muktsar district, senior Badal began his political career in 1947 and rose through the ranks of the Shiromani Akali Dal. He served as Sarpanch of the Village Badal and later Chairman of Block Samiti, Lambi before entering Punjab politics.
He was elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in 1957 and was re-elected in 1969, serving as Minister for Community Development, Panchayati Raj, Animal Husbandry, Dairying, and Fisheries. He was the Leader of Opposition in 1972, 1980, and 2002. Badal was elected to the Vidhan Sabha a total of 10 times, including in 1957 and in every election since 1969, except for the February 1992 election, in which he led a boycott of state elections by the Akalis.
In the 1997 elections, he won from the Lambi Assembly constituency and went on to win consecutively in four terms. Badal served as a Union Minister in Prime Minister Morarji Desai's government in 1977. He was accoladed with several awards including the Padma Vibhushan, which he received from the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, on 30 March 2015.
However, Badal made headlines in December 2020 when he returned his Padma Vibhushan award to support the 2020–2021 farmers' protest. Badal, a farmer himself, joined the protest to show solidarity with his fellow farmers and returned his award to the government to express his dissatisfaction with the current policies.
