Five-Time Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal Passes Away; 10 Facts About The Akali Dal Patriarch

Five-time former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal passed away on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at the age of 95. He was hospitalised seven days ago at a private hospital in Mohali and was moved to the intensive care unit on Friday.

Let us look at some interesting facts about the veteran politician’s journey.

1. Born on December 8, 1927, in a village named Abul Khurana (now in Pakistan), Parkash Singh Badal belonged to a Jat Sikh family. 

2. In 1947, at the age of 20, Badal was elected as the sarpanch of the village after getting a BA degree from Forman Christian College, Lahore.

3. Parkash Singh Badal was elected as an MLA for the first time in 1957 from the Malout seat in Punjab with a Congress party ticket.

4. He was elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab for the first time in March 1970, becoming the youngest Chief Minister of any state in the country at 43 years of age.

5. Badal served as the Chief Minister of Punjab for five terms, from March 27, 1970, to June 14, 1971; June 20, 1977, to February 17, 1980; February 12, 1997, to February 26, 2002; March 2, 2007, to March 13, 2012; and March 14, 2012, to March 16, 2017.

6. In 2012, when Parkash Singh Badal became Punjab’s Chief Minister for the fifth time, he was the oldest CM of any state in India. In the 2022 Assembly Elections, Badal entered the record books for being the oldest candidate to contest an election in the country.

7. He served as the leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly in 1972, 1980, and 2002. 

8. Badal also held the position of Union Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation during the Morarji Desai government.

9. Parkash Singh Badal served as the president of Shiromani Akali Dal from 1995 to 2008. 

10. In 2015, Badal was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award in India.