Parkash Singh Badal was a five-time former Punjab chief minister, and Akali Dal patriarch, died on Tuesday at a private hospital in Mohali. He was 95 years old and was admitted to Fortis Hospital in Mohali a week ago after complaining of difficulty breathing.
People began queuing at the SAD office in this city early Wednesday morning to pay their respects to Parkash Singh Badal , while the Punjab government declared a holiday in his honor on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes to Former Chief Minister of Punjab, describing him as a “colossal figure of Indian politics and a remarkable statesman.”Â
On Thursday, all state government offices, departments, boards, corporations, and educational institutions will remain closed.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Modi, several central ministers, and Punjab and Haryana chief ministers and leaders from all parties expressed their condolences for Badal’s death and praised his enormous contributions to the state and country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Chandigarh today to pay his respects to veteran politician and Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal.
The grand old man of Punjab politics became chief minister for the first time in 1970, leading a coalition government that did not serve out its term. He was also chief minister from 1977 to 1980, 1997 to 2002, 2007 to 2012, and 2012 to 2017.
Badal graduated from Forman Christian College in Lahore after being born on December 8, 1927, in Abul Khurana near Malout. His first political positions were that of sarpanch of Badal village and chairman of the block samiti.
As the Congress nominee, he was elected to the state assembly from Malout in 1957. On the SAD ticket, he won the Gidderbaha assembly seat in 1969. When the then-chief minister, Gurnam Singh, defected to the Congress in 1970, the SAD regrouped and formed the government with Jana Sangh’s support.
Even though the coalition government only lasted a little more than a year, Badal became the country’s youngest chief minister. When he left office as chief minister in 2017, he was among the oldest to hold the position.
The national flag will be flown at half-mast on all structures where it is normally flown, according to a government announcement, and there will be no official entertainment on these two days.
