Punjab declares holiday on Apr 27; people queue up to pay last respects to Badal

People started queuing up at the SAD office here since early morning on Wednesday to pay their last respects to Parkash Singh Badal while the Punjab government declared a holiday on Thursday in honour of the fivetime Punjab chief minister who died on Tuesday aged 95All government offices departments boards corporations and educational institutions in the state will remain shut on Thursday according to an official orderAccording to sources Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reach Chandigarh at 12 noon to pay his last respects to Parkash Singh BadalBadal had not been keeping well for some time and was admitted to the Fortis Hospital in Mohali near here over a week ago after he complained of uneasiness in breathing He died on Tuesday and his mortal remains have been kept at the Shiromani Akali Dal head office here for people to pay their tributes to the departed soulAlso Read PM Modi to reach Chandigarh to pay last respects to Parkash Singh Badal say sourcesThe SAD patriarchs mortal remains will be taken to his native village Badal in Muktsar at 12 noon via Rajpura Patiala Sangrur Barnala Rampura Phul and Bathinda The cremation will take place at 1 pm on Thursday a party leader saidThe central government has already announced two days of state mourning on April 26 and 27 across India as a mark of respect to the former Punjab chief ministerPresident Droupadi Murmu Prime Minister Modi several central ministers and the Punjab and Haryana chief ministers and leaders cutting across party lines condoled Badals demise and hailed his immense contributions to the state as well as the countryThe grand old man of Punjab politics first became chief minister in 1970 heading a coalition government that did not complete its term He was also the chief minister in 197780 19972002 200712 and 20122017Born on December 8 1927 in Abul Khurana near Malout Badal graduated from Forman Christian College in Lahore His first political posts were the sarpanch of Badal village and the chairman of the block samitiHe entered the state assembly from Malout in 1957 as the Congress nominee In 1969 he won the Gidderbaha assembly seat on the SAD ticket When Gurnam Singh the then chief minister defected to the Congress in 1970 the SAD regrouped and formed the government with the support of the Jana SanghBadal then became the youngest chief minister in the country even if the coalition government lasted just a little more than a year In 2017 when he ended his last stint as chief minister he was among the oldest to have held that postBadal was reelected in the 1972 elections but as the SAD could not form a government he became the leader of the Opposition He was chief minister for 15 months in 197071 and for 32 months in 19771980During the 1977 elections he again won from the Gidderbaha constituency and became the chief minister of the SADJanata Party government He was again elected to the state assembly in June 1980 and September 1985 elections from the Gidderbaha assembly constituencyBadal after shifting to the Lambi constituency was elected legislator in 1997 and became the chief minister on February 12 that year as the leader of the SADBJP governmentDuring this tenure his government took the decision of providing free electricity and waiving land revenue for farmers Badal was reelected from Lambi seat in 2002 2007 2012 and 2017In 1967 he lost the Gidderbaha seat to Congress Harcharan Singh Brar by a margin of just 57 votes This was his first electoral loss The second came last year when lost to AAP candidate Gurmeet Singh KhuddianThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever