Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
India

Parkash Singh Badal, 88: India's Oldest Chief Minister Is Active As Ever

Jaideep Sarin IANS, 07 Dec, 2015 01:28 PM
    Parkash Singh Badal, India's oldest chief minister, turns 88 on Tuesday but shows no sign of tiredness or any intention of retiring any time soon.
     
     
    Starting his day early, "Badal Saab", as he is referred to by most people around him, actively goes through his daily routine of meetings with officers, ministers, delegations and others who come to meet him.
     
    Badal's 'Sangat Darshan' (meeting with people) programme takes him to several villages and towns across Punjab every week.
     
    The programme is basically to take the government to the doorstep of the people. Hundreds throng every place where he stops and listens to problems and suggestions.
     
    "Badal Saab is always active despite his age. He is alert too and his memory is far better than most of the much younger people around him. He is a real leader of the masses," a close aide of the chief minister, who accompanies him to most places, told IANS.
     
     
    Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, of which Badal is the chief patron and the strongest leader, depends a lot on the charisma of the leader, especially during trying times.
     
    Badal is also a long-time ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party and enjoys warm personal relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
     
    When he turned 87 years old last year, Badal celebrated his birthday with school students in Gidderbaha town in southwest Punjab. He cut over half a dozen birthday cakes that day.
     
    Starting from a simple agricultural background, Badal forayed into politics by getting elected as 'sarpanch' (village headman) in 1947, the same year when the country got independence.
     
    He was first elected to the Punjab assembly in 1957 on the Congress ticket.
     
    After leaving the Congress soon after, Badal ended up opposing the Congress policies and governments. He and the Akali Dal continue to oppose the Congress.
     
     
    Well-known for his witty one-liners and memory of people and events, Badal has always remained centre stage in Punjab's politics in the past over six decades.
     
    Born December 8, 1927, in an agriculturist family in Abul Khurana village near Malout in southwest Punjab, Badal has been chief minister of Punjab five times - 1970-71, 1977-80, 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012 onwards. 
     
    He has been in power in Punjab continuously since March 2007. He briefly remained a union minister in 1977 in the Morarji Desai government.
     
    Badal's wife, Surinder Kaur, died in 2011 from cancer. The Badal couple had two children, son Sukhbir and daughter Preneet.
     
    Badal's close family members are all in the government. 
     
    His son Sukhbir Singh Badal is the Akali Dal president and deputy chief minister and dominates the party and government affairs now.
     
     
    Badal's daughter-in-law Harsimrat Badal is the union minister for food processing. His son-in-law Adaish Pratap Singh Kairon is a cabinet minister in his government as is Harsimrat's younger brother Bikram Singh Majithia.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Mukesh Ambani Back On Top As Richest Indian In Forbes List

    Mukesh Ambani Back On Top As Richest Indian In Forbes List
    Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani on Monday regained his position as the world's richest Indian with a net worth of $19.6 billion, pushing Sun Pharmaceuticals founder Dilip Shanghvi back to the second place after seven weeks.

    Mukesh Ambani Back On Top As Richest Indian In Forbes List

    Sun, Sand, Surgery: Goa Gearing Up For Medical Tourism

    Sun, Sand, Surgery: Goa Gearing Up For Medical Tourism
    If the medical fraternity and the state government here have their way, Goa, conventionally known for its beaches and music bashes, may well pip big cities like Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai as an attractive medical tourism destination as well.

    Sun, Sand, Surgery: Goa Gearing Up For Medical Tourism

    Pakistanis Nabbed From Drug-laden Boat Off Gujarat Sent To Custody

    Pakistanis Nabbed From Drug-laden Boat Off Gujarat Sent To Custody
    A court here on Monday sent eight Pakistani nationals, who were nabbed from a suspicious boat laden with drugs off the Gujarat coast last week, to police custody till May 5.

    Pakistanis Nabbed From Drug-laden Boat Off Gujarat Sent To Custody

    6.7-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Nepal

    6.7-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Nepal
    A 6.7-magnitude earthquake jolted the quake-hit Nepal again on Sunday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

    6.7-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Nepal

    Aam Aadmi Party Infighting Trips Further Growth In Punjab

    Aam Aadmi Party Infighting Trips Further Growth In Punjab
    The latest developments in the Aam Aadmi Party have put three of its four MPs from Punjab on the side of AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The fourth, cardiologist, social worker and Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi, is in the camp of ousted rebels Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan.

    Aam Aadmi Party Infighting Trips Further Growth In Punjab

    India's Foreign Exchange Reserves At Record High Of $343 Billion

    India's Foreign Exchange Reserves At Record High Of $343 Billion
    India's foreign exchange reserves touched a record high of $343.2 billion for the week ended April 17, the Reserve Bank of India's data showed on Friday.

    India's Foreign Exchange Reserves At Record High Of $343 Billion