Former Cabinet Minister Bhagat Chunni Lal passes away at 95; Punjab declares half-day holiday as mark of respect
The Punjab government has also announced a half-day holiday as a mark of respect.
PTC News Desk: Former Punjab minister Bhagat Chunni Lal, father of AAP minister Mohinder Bhagat, passed away on Thursday morning at his residence in Jalandhar. He breathed his last at the age of 93 years.
His last rites will be performed at around 5 pm at the Basti Sheikh cremation ground. The Punjab government has also announced a half-day holiday as a mark of respect.
Bhagat Chunni Lal served as a Cabinet minister in the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP coalition government. He was born on December 1, 1932, in Sialkot, now in Pakistan. After Partition, his family moved to Jalandhar. He was also involved in the export business of sports goods.
He is survived by four sons and four daughters. He remained a prominent figure in Jalandhar West politics for several years. He won his first election in 1997 and entered the Punjab Assembly. He retired from active politics in 2017.
Contested first election in 1985
Bhagat Chunni Lal began his political journey by contesting the 1985 election from Jalandhar South as an independent candidate. However, he lost the election. He later joined the BJP.
In 1997, he won the Jalandhar South seat for the first time and became a Punjab MLA. He was re-elected from the same constituency in 2007.
Following delimitation, the constituency was renamed Jalandhar West. In the 2012 Punjab Assembly elections, he contested from Jalandhar West as a BJP candidate and won again.
Also served as Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker
During his political career, Bhagat Chunni Lal held several important positions. In 2011, following the resignation of Satpal Gosain, he was elected Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly.
From 2012 to 2017, he served as a Cabinet minister in the Punjab government led by Parkash Singh Badal. He handled portfolios including Local Bodies, Medical, Education and Research, Labour, and Forest and Wildlife.
He also served as the BJP Legislature Party leader in the Punjab Assembly from 2012 to 2017. After completing his term, he decided not to contest the 2017 Assembly elections.