Som Parkash profile: Former IAS officer takes oath as first-time MP

Som Parkash. Pic/YouTube

New Delhi: A former IAS officer in Punjab and two-time MLA from the Phagwara Assembly constituency, Som Parkash is a first-time MP elected from the Hoshiarpur (SC) constituency. Parkash was sworn in as a Union minister of state on Thursday. Som Prakash is the new Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

A prominent Dalit face in Punjab's Doaba region, Som Parkash defeated Congress nominee and legislator Raj Kumar Chabbewal from Hoshiarpur by just 48,530 votes. The BJP had benched its sitting MP Vijay Sampla and fielded Parkash from the constituency. Parkash, who had taken premature retirement from the IAS to join the BJP, had unsuccessfully fought from the Hoshiarpur seat in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. He had lost by a very thin margin.

Som Parkash had contested the 2012 Assembly polls from the Phagwara seat on a BJP ticket and won. He was re-elected from the seat in the 2017 assembly election. Parkash shared a strained relationship with Sampla, who as the Punjab BJP chief had opposed his candidature for the 2017 assembly polls. But he turned out to be among the three BJP candidates who won the election.

Top News stories of the day

• Narendra Modi swearing-in: Ambanis, Shahid-Mira, Kangana attend ceremony
• Love again! These famous people got married more than once
• Mumbai doctor's suicide: Yet to find caste angle in Dr Payal Tadvi's case, say police
• Mumbai: 33-year-old attempts suicide outside Aamir Khan's office
• Horror in Mahabaleshwar: 12-year-old's scalp ripped apart in carting accident
• Bikers attack astrologer, tell her to withdraw rape case against Karan Oberoi or else...
• Shobhaa De, son Aditya and Sussanne Khan at a party in Colaba
• Mumbai: Central Railway General Manager retires after three key achievements
• Mumbai Crime: Goon threatens Parle volunteers for good driving
• BMC to rope in citizens to fight air pollution
• Mumbai: Hike in AC local fares from June 1
• Sharon Joan: Fashion blogger recreates British Royals wardrobe for reasonable price
• Corrosion, beautification, audit firm now blamed for CSMT bridge collapse
• Mumbai: Lions to be main attraction in Byculla zoo again after 7 years
• Mumbai: Guard dies after being thrown out of the train
• Mumbai Crime: Marine engineer dies in acid attack, friend in hospital
• Narendra Modi, team start on second innings
• Congress boycotts television debates for a month
• Mukesh-Nita Ambani, Anant Ambani, Ratan Tata spotted at Mumbai airport
• NEET answer key out, but candidates unhappy
• Taming fake news with logic and AI

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates