Parkash Singh Badal, a SAD patriarch and former chief minister of Punjab, dies at 95 


Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal was admitted to a private hospital in Mohali seven days ago.


Parkash Singh Badal, 95, the patriarch of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and five-time former chief minister, passed away at Fortis Hospital Mohali, according to Jangvir Singh, the party's media advisor.

He was admitted to a private hospital in Mohali seven days prior, and on Saturday, he spent the second day in a row there.

The former chief minister of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal, was hospitalised to Fortis Hospital Mohali on April 16 with a severe bronchial asthma attack. As his respiratory status deteriorated, he was sent to the medical ICU on April 18, according to a medical bulletin from Fortis Hospital.

"He had been receiving medical treatment, NIV, and HFNC support. He was being managed by Prof. (Dr.) Digambar Behera with assistance from the cardiology, pulmonology, and critical care teams. Despite receiving proper medical care, S Parkash Singh Badal passed away from his ailment. The medical bulletin stated, "Fortis Hospital Mohali extends its sincere condolences on the passing of Parkash Singh Badal.

Badal, who was born on December 8th in Muktsar, was elected as the local sarpanch when he was 20 years old. On a Congress ticket, he won his first election as an MLA in 1957. In 1970, at the age of 43, he succeeded Gurnam Singh as chief minister of Punjab for the first time.

After taking office as president of the Akali Dal in 1995, Badal teamed up with the Bharatiya Janata Party to form a pre-election coalition that won the assembly elections in 1997.

From 2007 to 2017, he once more served as chief minister, losing to the Congress in the process. In 2008, Badal, who was facing resistance from inside his own party, gave the party's leadership to his son Sukhbir Singh Badal.

He had returned the Padma Vibhushan award in 2020 after being a vocal opponent of the three farm legislation that the Modi administration has since overturned. He was defeated by Gurmeet Singh Khuddian of the Aam Aadmi Party in Lambi in the Punjab elections of 2022 by a margin of more than 11,000 votes.

Parkash Singh Badal ran in 13 state assembly elections throughout his career and won 11. He won ten polls in a row from 1969 until 2017.