People’s Maharani celebrating her 78th birthday
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
Preneet Kaur popularly known as “Maharani Sahiban” wife of former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh turns 78, today.
Born on October 1944, is a daughter of Gian Singh Kahlon, an Indian Civil Service officer on 1937 batch and Satinder kaur. She has one brother Himmat Singh Kahlon and one sister Geetinder kaur wife of Simranjit Singh Mann (retd. IPS) and President Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar).
She did her schooling from The Convent of Jesus and Mary, Shimla and graduated from St. Bede’s College, Shimla.
She married to Capt Amarinder Singh, scion of erstwhile princely state of Patiala in 1964.She was 20 and Capt Amarinder Singh was 22 and was serving in the Indian Army, at the time of their wedding. After the death of Maharaja Yadwinder Singh,Amarinder became the Maharaja and she became Maharani.
Capt Amarinder Singh and Preneet kaur are the parents of Raninder Singh and Jai Inder Kaur.
Preneet kaur is a well known social worker. Before entering into active politics she founded Sanjeevani, an institution for differently abled children, in Patiala.
In 1999 she contested General elections and won the Patiala Lok Sabha seat. She again contested and won 2004 Lok Sabha seat. During her second stint she served in various central govt committees. Again in 2009, she became MP from Patiala. This time she was made a Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs. But in 2014 she lost her fourth election. She is the only MP who represented Patiala in Lok Sabha for three consecutive terms. Again in 2019 she won the Patiala parliamentary elections.
Preneet Kaur association with the grassroot level connected her to people who loved having her among them. She is serving with sincerity and dignity.
The first woman to receive the prestigious Sikh of the Year award, in 2009, at the House of Lords in London, Preneet Kaur is, first and foremost, the people’s choice.
October 3,2021
