Jagjit Singh (politician)

Chaudhary Jagjit Singh was an Indian politician and member of Punjab Legislative Assembly.[1]

Chaudhary Jagjit Singh
Leader of opposition in Punjab assembly
In office
11 October 1998 – 26 February 2002
Preceded byRajinder Kaur Bhattal
Succeeded byPrakash Singh Badal
ConstituencyKartarpur
Member of Punjab Legislative Assembly
In office
1980–2007
Preceded byBhagat Singh
Succeeded byAvinash Chander
ConstituencyKartarpur
Personal details
Born26 July 1934
Jalandhar, Punjab, British India
(now in Punjab, India)
Died4 August 2015
(aged 81)
Jalandhar, Punjab, India
Political partyIndian National Congress
SpouseGurbachan Kaur
ChildrenChaudhary Surinder Singh

Early life

Chaudhary Jagjit Singh was born in the Ravidassia[2] family of Master Gurbanta Singh and Sampuran Kaur at Dhaliwal, Jalandhar, Punjab.[3]

After the death of his father, he became his official political heir. Jagjit's younger brother, Santokh Singh Chaudhary is also a political leader, and his son Chaudhary Surinder Singh is an MLA from Kartarpur.

Politics

He started his political career as a Sarpanch of their ancestral village 'Dhariwal Kadian'. He was then appointed Chairman of Jalandhar Zila Parshad. He also sevred as Chairman of Block Samiti, Managing Director of Cooperative Bank, and Chairman of Market Committee.[4]

He continued to serve as both the Cabinet Minister of Punjab for Labour and Employment and Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development. He won the Punjab Assembly election five times continuously from Kartarpur Assembly Constituency in 1980, 1985, 1992, 1997, and 2002.[5]

In 1998, he was appointed the leader of opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly[6] and also served as the Vice-President of Punjab Congress Committee.

He was implicated in the "Ludhiana City Centre scam", in which he and others allegedly caused monetary loss to the state by awarding the contract for a large project in Ludhiana to a New Delhi-based construction company.[7]

He died on 4 August 2015 due to a heart attack.[8]

References

  1. ^ page 186 of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Compendium. Punjab Legislative Assembly. Retrieved on 17 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Dalit icons of Punjab: The all-powerful Chaudharys of Doaba". Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Dalit icons of Punjab: The all-powerful Chaudharys of Doaba". Hindustan Times. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  4. ^ Service, Tribune News. "Former minister Ch Jagjit Singh dead". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Kartarpur Election and Results 2018, Candidate list, Winner, Runner-up, Current MLA and Previous MLAs". Elections in India. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  6. ^ Chaudhary Jagjit Singh replaced by Rajinder Kaur Bhattal
  7. ^ Nath, Rajan (27 November 2019). "City Centre Scam Punjab: Ludhiana court acquits all accused including CM Captain Amarinder Singh". PTC NEWS. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Senior Congress leader Chaudhary Jagjit Singh passes away". The Economic Times. Retrieved 19 October 2020.