People’s Maharaja –Capt Amarinder Singh turns 79
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
Capt. Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab turns 79 years. Today is his 79 birthday. Born on 11 March 1942 to erstwhile Maharaja of Patiala Yadvindra Singh and Maharani Mohinder Kaur, he is a scion of Phulkian dynasty and founder of Patiala,Ala Singh.
He has one son, Raninder Singh, and one daughter, Jai Inder Kaur, who is married to a Delhi-based businessman, Gurpal Singh. His wife, Preneet Kaur, is a member of parliament (MP) from Patiala and remained Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs from 2009 to 2014.
Four years back, on this date, he won the Punjab election with a thumping majority and became the 26th Chief Minister of Punjab. He has also served as the Chief Minister of Punjab from 2002-2007. Presently he is representing Patiala (Urban) constituency.
He attended famous Welham Boy’s School, Lawrance School, Sanawar, Doon School, Dehradun. He also served in the Indian Army from June 1963, after graduating from the prestigious National Defence Academy. He served in the elite Sikh Regiment.
Capt. Amarinder Singh served as the ADC to the GOC-in-C (Western Command) Lt General Harbaksh Singh during the 1965 Indo-Pak war. In 1980 former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi inducted Capt Amarinder Singh into politics and he became a member of parliament from Patiala constituency in 1980 but resigned from the Congress party in 1984 to protest against Operation Blue Star. After resigning from Congress he joined Shiromani Akali Dal and became member of state legislature assembly from Talwandi Saboo (Bathinda) and become minister for Agriculture, Forest, Panchayats. But resigned from the Shiromani Akal Dal in 1992 and rejoined the Congress party.
In 2002, Capt Amarinder Singh became the Chief Minister of Punjab for the first time.
Why Capt Amarinder Singh is known as People’s Maharaja, can be gauged from the fact that in 2014, he contested from Amritsar in Punjab against BJP’s stalwart candidate Arun Jaitley for the Lok Sabha. Capt Amarinder Singh fought against the Narendra Modi wave of 2014 and defeated the senior BJP leader (who later become union finance minister) by over 100,000 votes.
In 2017, Capt Amarinder Singh led the Congress party in assembly elections and was able to overcome the challenge posed by Aam Aadmi Party to register a landslide win for the Congress in the state. He is a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee.
All India Jat Maha Sabha President
Capt Amarinder Singh is also a President of All India Jat Maha Sabha and associated with this Mahasabha for last 30 years.
Books written by Capt Amarinder Singh
- A Ridge Too Far
- Lest We Forget
- The Last Sunset: Rise and Fall of Lahore Durbar
- The Sikhs in Britain: 150 years of Photographs
- Honour and Fidelity: India’s Military Contribution to the Great War 1914 to 1918
- The Monsoon War: Young Officers Reminisce – 1965 India-Pakistan War
Khushwant Singh has also written a biography on Cap Amarinder Singh The People’s Maharaja.
March 11,2021
