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Amarinder Singh

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For other people named Amrinder Singh, see Amrinder Singh (disambiguation).

Captain (Retd.)
Amarinder Singh
Singh in 2017
15th Chief Minister of Punjab
In office
16 March 2017 – 19 September 2021
GovernorV. P. Singh Badnore
Banwarilal Purohit
Preceded byParkash Singh Badal
Succeeded byCharanjit Singh Channi
In office
26 February 2002 – 1 March 2007
GovernorJ. F. R. Jacob
O. P. Verma
Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai (additional charge)
Sunith Francis Rodrigues
DeputyRajinder Kaur Bhattal (from 6 January 2004)
Preceded byParkash Singh Badal
Succeeded byParkash Singh Badal
Additional ministries
In office
16 March 2017 – 18 September 2021
Ministries and DepartmentsMinister of Administrative Reforms, Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Horticulture, Conservation of Land and Water, Excise & Taxation, General Administration, Home Affairs & Justice, Legal & Legislative Affairs, Vigilance, Personnel, Civil Aviation, Defence Services Welfare, Hospitality, Investment Promotion, Information & Public Relations, Environment, Wildlife, NRI Affairs
Government of Punjab, India
Preceded byParkash Singh Badal
Succeeded byCharanjit Singh Channi
Member of the Legislative Assembly, Punjab 
In office
11 March 2017 – 15 March 2022
Preceded byPreneet Kaur
Succeeded byAjit Pal Singh Kohli
ConstituencyPatiala
In office
2002–2014
Preceded bySurjit Singh Kohli
Succeeded byPreneet Kaur
ConstituencyPatiala Town
In office
1992–1997
Preceded byHardial Singh Rajla
Succeeded byJagtar Singh Rajla
ConstituencySamana
In office
1985–1992
Preceded byAvtar Singh
Succeeded byHarminder Singh
ConstituencyTalwandi Sabo
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
26 May 2014 – 23 November 2016
Preceded byNavjot Singh Sidhu
Succeeded byGurjeet Singh Aujla
ConstituencyAmritsar
In office
1980–1984
Preceded byGurcharan Singh Tohra
Succeeded byCharanjit Singh Walia
ConstituencyPatiala
Personal details
Born (1942-03-11) 11 March 1942 (age 82)
Patiala, Patiala State, Punjab States Agency, British India
(present-day Punjab, India)
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Other political
affiliations
Spouse
​
(m. 1964)​
Children2, including Raninder Singh
Parents
WebsiteOfficial website
Military service
Allegiance India
Branch/service Indian Army
Years of service1963–1966
Rank Captain
UnitSikh Regiment
Battles/warsIndo-Pakistani War of 1965
Pretender information
Title(s)Maharaja of Patiala
Throne(s) claimedPatiala
Pretend from17 June 1974–present
Monarchy abolishedSovereign monarchy
1947 (Instrument of Accession)
Titular monarchy
1971 (26th Amendment of the Indian Constitution)
PredecessorYadavindra Singh
SignatureAmarinder Singh's signature

Amarinder Singh (born 11 March 1942),[1] is an Indian politician, military historian, former royal and Indian Army veteran who served as the 15th Chief Minister of Punjab.[2] His father was the last Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala and a member of the historical Phulkian dyansty.[3] Before starting his political career, Singh was an officer in the Indian Army, where he served from 1963 to 1966.[4]

In his long political career, Singh has served in numerous positions including as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Punjab and as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha.[5] He also served as the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee thrice.[6] Singh served as the Chief Minister of Punjab from 2002 to 2007 and 2017 to 2021.[3] As of November 2022, Singh also serves as the chairman of the Punjab Urdu Academy.[7] On 19 September 2022 he merged his party Punjab Lok Congress, which he formed after leaving the Indian National Congress, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joined BJP on the same day.[8]

Early life and education

Singh was born on 11 March 1942 in Patiala, Patiala State, Punjab Province, British India. He was born into a royal Punjabi Jat Sikh family of the Sidhu clan to parents Maharaja Sir Yadavindra Singh and Maharani Mohinder Kaur of Patiala. His father, Yadavindra, was the last Maharaja of Patiala. Singh's family belongs to the historical Phulkian dynasty.[9] He attended the Loreto Convent in Shimla, and Lawrence School in Kasauli, Solan District, before going to The Doon School in Dehradun.[9][10]

Army career

Singh served in the Indian Army from June 1963 to December 1966 after graduating from the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy.[11] He was commissioned into the Sikh Regiment.[12] He served as the aide-de-camp to the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Command, Lieutenant General Harbaksh Singh, from December 1964.[13] He left the army in early 1965 to look after his family but returned to service with the start of the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War.[14]

His father and grandfather, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, served in the Indian Army and the British Indian Army, and Singh stated, in 2010, that the Army will always be his first love.[15]

Political career

Early career

Singh was inducted into the Indian National Congress (INC) by Rajiv Gandhi, his friend from school and who later became Prime Minister of India, and was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980. In 1984, he resigned from Parliament and from the INC as a protest against the Army's actions during Operation Blue Star.[3] Subsequently, he joined the Shiromani Akali Dal, was elected to the state legislature from Talwandi Sabo and became a minister in the Punjab state government for Agriculture, Forest, Development and Panchayats.

In 1992, Singh broke away from the Akali Dal and formed a splinter party, Shiromani Akali Dal (Panthic).[3] His party later merged with the Congress in 1998, after a crushing defeat in the Vidhan Sabha election in which Singh was defeated from his own constituency, getting only 856 votes, and after Sonia Gandhi took over the reins of the party. He was defeated by Prem Singh Chandumajra from the Patiala Constituency in 1998 by a margin of 33,251 votes.

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and state politics

Singh's served as the President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) on three occasions from 1999 to 2002, 2010 to 2013 and 2015 to 2017.[16] Singh's second term as the PPCC president was also noted for the influence wielded by his first cousin, Arvind Khanna, the son of Singh's paternal aunt, Naginder Kumari Khanna.[9][17] Khanna used his wealth to fund Singh's political activities and took control of his office and the PPCC's political strategy.[9][18]

Singh has been a member of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha for five terms representing Patiala (Urban) thrice, Samana and Talwandi Sabo once each.[19]

Chief Minister of Punjab, First term

He became Chief Minister of Punjab in 2002 and continued until 2007.[20]

Punjab Opposition

In September 2008, a special committee of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, during the tenure of a government led by Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party, expelled him on the count of regularities in the transfer of land related to the Amritsar Improvement Trust.[21] In 2010, the Supreme Court of India held his expulsion unconstitutional on the grounds that it was excessive and unconstitutional.[21]

Member of Parliament

He defeated senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley by a margin of 102,770 votes in 2014 general elections from Amritsar seat.[22]

On 27 November 2015, Amarinder Singh was appointed President of Punjab Congress in the run up to Punjab elections slated for 2017.[23]

Chief Minister of Punjab, second term

Main article: Second Amarinder Singh ministry

On 11 March 2017 Congress Party won the 2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election under his leadership. Amarinder Singh was sworn in as the 26th Chief Minister of Punjab on 16 March 2017 at Punjab Raj Bhavan, Chandigarh. The oath of office was administered by the Punjab governor, V.P. Singh Badnore.[2][24] He was appointed president of the Jat Mahasabha in 2013.[25]

During his tenure as chief minister, he came into conflict with a faction of the Congress headed by Navjot Singh Sidhu, and was criticised for being inaccessible to Congress MLAs, living in a farmhouse on the outskirts of Chandigarh instead of coming to the civil secretariat building. He also received criticism for not resolving the Bargari sacrilege case and for a perception that he had been insufficiently zealous in prosecuting previous CM Parkash Singh Badal for involvement in the case.[26]

On 18 September 2021, he resigned as the Chief Minister of Punjab, as a consequence of conversations with the Congress high command that suggested the Punjab Congress MLAs were lacking confidence in his leadership.[27] Singh publicly blamed Sidhu for the internal tension that led to the resignation, calling him "dangerous", "incompetent", and a "total disaster" and that he would fight any attempt to name Sidhu as the next CM of Punjab.[28] Singh was eventually succeeded by Charanjit Singh Channi as the new chief minister.[29]

Singh left the Congress Party, and on 28 October 2021, announced that he would be floating a new party soon and that he would be allying with the Bharatiya Janata Party.[30]

Punjab Lok Congress

Punjab Lok Congress (PLC; English: Punjab People's Congress) is an Indian regional political party, in Punjab founded by Singh on 2 November 2021 after he resigned as Chief Minister of Punjab and quit the INC.[31] The party was formed following a split in INC. Singh has announced that his party will contest on all 117 seats in 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election.[32] The party failed to win any seat in the elections.[33]

2022 Punjab Assembly election

In 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election, Singh lost from the Patiala Assembly constituency to Aam Aadmi Party's Ajit Pal Singh Kohli.[34] Singh's party PLC lost election deposit in all but one of the 28 seats it had contested with garnering 0.54% of the total votes polled.[35]

Bharatiya Janata Party

A few months after his election failure, Singh, along with his party merged, into the Bharatiya Janata Party on 19 September 2022 after meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah a few days before.[33] During the 2024 Indian General Election, Singh was absent from the BJP's electoral campaigns in Punjab due to health related reasons.[36] In October 2024, after a one and a half year absence from active politics, Singh made a public visit to the grain market in Khanna.[37] In November 2024, Singh criticised Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, stating that his support for Khalistan movement separatists in Candna led to the deterioration in India-Canada relations.[38]

Books

He has also written books on war and Sikh history which include A Ridge Too Far, Lest We Forget, The Last Sunset: Rise and Fall of Lahore Durbar and The Sikhs in Britain: 150 years of Photographs. Among his most recent works are Honour and Fidelity: India's Military Contribution to the Great War 1914 to 1918 released in Chandigarh on 6 December 2014, and The Monsoon War: Young Officers Reminisce – 1965 India-Pakistan War- which contains his memoirs of the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war.[39][40]

Awards and recognition

The author Khushwant Singh released a biographic book titled, Captain Amarinder Singh: The People's Maharaja in 2017.[41]

Personal life and family

Singh has one son, Raninder Singh, and one daughter, Jai Inder Kaur.[9] Both his children are politicians.[42] His wife, Preneet Kaur, served as a Member of Parliament and was Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs from 2009 to 2012.[43]

His elder sister Heminder Kaur is married to former Minister of External Affairs K. Natwar Singh.[44] He is also related to Shiromani Akali Dal (A) leader and former Indian Police Service officer Simranjit Singh Mann. Mann's wife and Amarinder Singh's wife, Preneet Kaur, are sisters.[45]

References

  1. ^ Quint, The (10 March 2017). "Punjab Live: Modi Congratulates Amarinder, Wishes Him Happy B'Day". The Quint. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Amarinder Singh sworn in as Punjab CM". The Hindu. The Hindu. 16 March 2017. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d "Who is Capt Amarinder Singh? Everything you need to know". The Indian Express. Express Web Desk. 16 March 2017. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Captain Amarinder back in charge in Punjab for second time". The New Indian Express. PTI. 16 March 2017. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  5. ^ Goswami, Dev (11 March 2017). "Punjab election results 2017: Full list of winners". indiatoday.intoday.in. Living Media India Limited. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  6. ^ "Congress in States – Punjab". inc.in. All India Congress Committee. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Punjab Urdu Academy". www.punjaburduacademy.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  8. ^ Sanjeev Verma (16 September 2022). "Former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh to merge his PLC with BJP on September 19 | Chandigarh News - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d e Singh, Khushwant (15 February 2017). Captain Amarinder Singh: The People's Maharaja: An Authorized Biography. Hay House, Inc. ISBN 978-93-85827-44-0.
  10. ^ "Seven Doscos in 15th Lok Sabha". The Indian Express. 31 May 2009. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Profile – Amarinder Singh". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Army's account of 1965 war padded, says Capt's new book". Hindustan Times. 18 September 2015. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  13. ^ "But for Gen Harbakhsh, Punjab would've been lost in 1965 war: Capt". Hindustan Times. 30 August 2015. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  14. ^ "Amarinder Singh Welcomes Honour To Officer Who Tied Protester To Jeep". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  15. ^ Bajwa, Harpreet (23 June 2019). "'Army will always be my first love': Nostalgia kicks in for Captain Amarinder Singh". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  16. ^ "Capt Amarinder Singh appointed Punjab Congress President". SikhNet. 26 October 2010. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  17. ^ Rana, Mahendra Singh (2006). India Votes: Lok Sabha & Vidhan Sabha Elections 2001-2005. Sarup & Sons. p. 367. ISBN 978-81-7625-647-6. Archived from the original on 13 April 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  18. ^ Rambani, Vishal (26 April 2014). "Capt Amarinder blue-eyed boy Arvind Khanna shuns Sonia's rally". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  19. ^ Khanna, Bharat (2 December 2021). "Dance of democracy: Punjab ex-CM Captain Amarinder Singh vs Congress". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  20. ^ Mishra, Anand (2 October 2021). "Captain, Congress engage in war of words after former Punjab CM says he will quit party". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  21. ^ a b Dhananjay Mahapatra, Dhananjay (27 April 2010). "'Amarinder's removal undemocratic'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012.
  22. ^ "Election Commission of India, General Elections, 2014 (16th LOK SABHA ) 4 - LIST OF SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES". Vol. List of Successful Candidates.pdf. Election Commission of India. p. 15. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  23. ^ "Amarinder appointed Captain of Punjab Congress". Daily Post India. 27 November 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015.
  24. ^ Mallick, Abhilash (17 March 2017). "Captain Amarinder Sworn in as Punjab CM, Nine Ministers Inducted". The Quint. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  25. ^ "Capt Amarinder Singh is Jat mahasabha chief". Hindustan Times. Press Trust of India (PTI). 13 May 2013. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  26. ^ "Explained: Five reasons why Captain Amarinder Singh had to step down as Punjab CM". The Indian Express. 18 September 2021. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  27. ^ "'I felt humiliated': Amarinder Singh resigns as Punjab chief minister". Hindustan Times. 18 September 2021. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  28. ^ ANI (19 September 2021). "Navjot Singh Sidhu a total disaster, says Amarinder Singh after ouster". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  29. ^ "Charanjit Singh Channi: Who is Charanjit Singh Channi, the new Punjab chief minister". The Times of India. 19 September 2021. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  30. ^ "Captain hints at seat-sharing pact with BJP, backs Centre on BSF order". The Indian Express. 28 October 2021. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  31. ^ "Amarinder Singh resigns from Congress; announces new party Punjab Lok Congress". The Hindu. 3 November 2021. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  32. ^ ANI (28 October 2021). "Amarinder announces his party will contest all 117 Punjab assembly seats". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  33. ^ a b Vasudeva, Vikas (16 September 2022). "Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh to join BJP on September 19". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 16 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  34. ^ "Punjab election results 2022: Captain Amarinder Singh accepts defeat, congratulates AAP on victory". The Times of India. 10 March 2022. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  35. ^ "Election Commission of India, State Election,2022 to the legislative assembly of Punjab PERFORMANCE OF POLITICAL PARTIES". Vol. Performance of Political Parties.pdf. Election Commission of India. p. 2. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  36. ^ "Lok Sabha Elections: Ex-Punjab CM Amarinder Singh's absence from the campaign adds to BJP woes". The Hindu BusinessLine. 26 May 2024. Archived from the original on 1 September 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  37. ^ Vasdev, Kanchan (25 October 2024). "After 1.5-year absence, Amarinder Singh returns to make farm outreach, may campaign for bypolls". The Indian Express. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  38. ^ Pandey, Neelam (4 November 2024). "Amarinder hits out at Trudeau. 'One ambitious man shouldn't be able to rock stable friendship'". ThePrint. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  39. ^ "Book Review: The Monsoon War: Young Officers Reminisce – 1965 India-Pakistan War". 24 October 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  40. ^ PTI (21 September 2015). "Amarinder Singh pens book on 1965 Indo-Pak war". Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  41. ^ Ratra, Vaibhav (22 May 2017). "People's Maharaja". The Pioneer. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  42. ^ "BJP revamps Punjab team, adjusts Congress's turncoats". The Times of India. 4 December 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  43. ^ "Members : Lok Sabha". loksabhaph.nic.in. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  44. ^ Nibber, Gurpreet Singh (24 July 2017). "Obituary | A sister, a guardian, the royal mother: Rajmata of Patiala is no more". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  45. ^ Sethi, Chitleen K. (1 January 2017). "Pushed to the margins, Simranjit Mann carrying legacy of a lost cause". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 22 August 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
Lok Sabha
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Patiala
1980–1984 		Succeeded by
Sardar Charanjit Singh Walia
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Amritsar
2014–2017 		Succeeded by
Gurjeet Singh Aujla
Political offices
Preceded by Chief Minister of Punjab
26 February 2002 – 1 March 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Minister of Punjab
16 March 2017 – 18 September 2021 		Succeeded by
State Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly
from Patiala Assembly constituency
2017 – 2022 		Succeeded by
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