Captain Amarinder Singh birthday: All you need to know about the former Punjab CM

Captain Amarinder Singh, a former royal, veteran of the Indian Army, and politician from India, was the 15th Chief Minister of Punjab. 

Born on March 11, 1942, in Patiala Amarinder Singh completed his education at The Lawrence School, Sanawar, and later at Punjab University, where he obtained a degree in Arts.

Singh began political career in 1980

Singh's political career began in 1980 when he was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, from the Patiala constituency. He was inducted into the Congress by Rajiv Gandhi.

He left Parliament in 1984 in protest at the Army's involvement in Operation Blue Star. Following his election to the state assembly from Talwandi Sabo, he joined the Shiromani Akali Dal and was appointed a minister in the state cabinet for agriculture, forestry, development, and panchayats.

Appointed Punjab CM in 2002

In 2002, he was appointed Punjab's Chief Minister, a position he held until 2007.

He was removed from the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in September 2008 as a result of irregularities in the transfer of land connected to the Amritsar Improvement Trust during the administration of an Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition.

His expulsion was declared unlawful by the Supreme Court of India in 2010 on the grounds that it was excessive and against the law. 

In 2008, he was chosen to lead the Punjab Congress Campaign Committee. Also, since 2013, Captain Amarinder Singh has been a Permanent Invitee to the Congress Working Committee.

Under his leadership, the Congress Party prevailed in the 2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election on March 11. On March 16, 2017, at Chandigarh's Punjab Raj Bhavan, Amarinder Singh was sworn in as the province of Punjab's 26th chief minister.

Singh formed the Punjab Lok Congress following a split in Indian National Congress in Punjab. However, the party failed to win any seat in the Punjab Legislative Assembly elections.

Published on: Friday, March 10, 2023, 03:55 PM IST