Shri Varinder Singh Bajwa is the Senior Vice-President of Shiromani Akali Dal party and a former Member of the Parliament of India representing Punjab in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament.
Varinder Singh Bajwa began his political career with the Shiromani Akali Dal in 1980. He served as the youth Akali leader in the 1980s and was elected as president of Hoshiarpur in 1995. [1] He was elected to serve, Rajya Sabha, in 2004 from Punjab until 2010. He quit Akali Dal and eventually served a brief stint in Congress in 2017, until he eventually reconciled with the Akali Dal before 2022 Punjab Assembly elections and has been a senior member ever since then. Varinder Singh Bajwa's wife Jagjeet Kaur is a retired lecturer of English Literature from Government College Hoshiarpur. Bajwa has three daughters residing in London, the United States and India. He is currently the senior vice president of the SAD.
Panth Rattan Shiri Gurcharan Singh Tohra was a president of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), a Sikh body in charge of controlling Gurdwara. He died of a heart attack in New Delhi on 1 April 2004 at the age of 79. He remained the head of the SGPC for a record 27 years, and was one of the most influential and controversial Sikh leaders of the 20th century.
Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) is a hard-line Sikh nationalist political party led by Simranjit Singh Mann, it is a splinter group of the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, India. They use 'Balti', the Punjabi term for bucket as their official election symbol. Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) was formed on 1 May 1994. The party has seen a resurgence in support after the deaths of Deep Sidhu and Sidhu Moose Wala who were supporters and seen as sympathetic to the cause of Simranjit Singh Mann. Their 2022 Lok Sabha victory after more than two decades has been viewed as a resurgence in a political vacuum due to collapse of other traditional political parties in Punjab. The last major victory for Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) was in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, where the party and their allies won 10 out of 13 seats from Punjab.
Simranjit Singh Mann is a former Indian Police Service officer and a former Member of the Parliament in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, representing the constituency of Sangrur since 2022. He lost elections in 2024 and Gurmeet Singh meet Hayer became new member of parliament. He is the president of the political party Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). Mann has served three-times as an MP; once from Taran Tarn between 1989 and 1991, and twice from Sangrur between 1999-2004 and since 2022. He is known as a Khalistani supporter and his party is known for their pro-Khalistan stances.
Although India is a parliamentary democracy, the country's politics has become dynastic or with high level of nepotism, possibly due to the absence of party organizations, independent civil-society associations which mobilize support for a party, or centralized financing of elections. The dynastic phenomenon is present at the national, state, regional, and district level. The Nehru–Gandhi family has produced three Indian prime ministers, and family members have largely led the Congress party since 1978. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also has several dynastic leaders. In addition to the major national parties, other national and regional parties such as Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal Secular, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Kerala Congress, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, Indian Union Muslim League, AIMIM, and the Nationalist Congress Party are all dominated by families, mostly those of the party founders.
Jagmeet Singh Brar is an Indian politician, lawyer, writer and poet who belonged to the Shiromani Akali Dal. He represents the Lokhit Abhiyan political party.
Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa is a member of the Rajya Sabha. He was the former President of Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt), which was formed by the merger of Shiromani Akali Dal (Democratic) and Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali) led by him and Ranjit Singh Brahampura respectively. He returned to the Shiromani Akali Dal political party by merging his party back into it in March 2024. He was previously a member of 14th Lok Sabha of India, representing the Sangrur constituency of Punjab. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan in the awards list of 26 January 2019. However, he returned it in December 2020 during the farmer protests.
Gurmukh Singh Musafir was an Indian politician and Punjabi language writer. He was the 5th Chief Minister of Punjab from 1 November 1966 to 8 March 1967.
Prem Singh Chandumajra is General Secretary and spokesman of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and former Member of Parliament from Anandpur Sahib and former constituency MP from Patiala seat. He is also an alumnus of Punjabi University, Patiala. He was a Member of Parliament in 11th, 12th and now of 16th Lok Sabha. He won with a low margin from Himmat Singh Shergill and Ambika Soni, who put up a tough fight.
Mohinder Singh Kaypee, is an Indian politician and member of Shiromani Akali Dal. Before, he was politically affiliated with the Indian National Congress. He is a Shiromani Akali Dal Candidate for Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency for the 2024 Indian general election.
Balwinder Singh Bhunder is an Indian politician, former member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, from the state of Punjab, and is the Secretary General of Shiromani Akali Dal Political party. He is a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal party. He served as the Cabinet Minister for Agriculture, the Cabinet Minister for Forest and the Cabinet Minister for Soil Conservation from 1977 to 1980. He has held former positions of General Secretary of Shiromani Akali Dal, President of All India Kisan Sabha and Member of the Legislative Assembly from Sardulgarh, Mansa district.
Parminder Singh Dhindsa is an Indian politician and belongs to the Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) Political Party. He was a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal until late 2019. He is currently MLA from Lehra and was leader of Shiromani Akali Dal Legislature group in Punjab Legislative Assembly until he quit. He was Minister for Finance & Planning (2012–2017) and Minister for Public Works (B&R) (2007–2012) in the previous Punjab Government. He is son of Rajya Sabha member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. He was first elected as MLA of Sunam in September 2000 by defeating Parmeshwari Devi of Congress during the by-election. He was re-elected as an MLA for the fifth consecutive term in 2017 with his tenure since 2000 to 2012 from Sunam and from 2017 onwards from Lehra Constituency. He is triumphant in his entire career since 2000.
Ranjit Singh Brahmpura was an Indian politician who was a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha for Khadoor Sahib constituency, he won the 2014 Indian general election being a Shiromani Akali Dal candidate. He is often referred to as Majhe Da Jarnail. He has previously served as Cabinet Minister in Government of Punjab twice, and MLA four times in Punjab. He was a part of the Shiromani Akali Dal led by Sukhbir Singh Badal until 2019 when he left the party, fighting injustice and for what he believed was right. On 23 December 2021, he rejoined Shiromani Akali Dal.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is a centre-right Sikh-centric state political party in Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Congress, being founded in 1920. Although there are many parties with the description Akali Dal, the party that is recognized as "Shiromani Akali Dal" by the Election Commission of India is the one led by Sukhbir Singh Badal. The party has a moderate Punjabi agenda. On 26 September 2020, they left the NDA over the farm bills.
Sukhbir Singh Badal is an Indian politician and businessman who served twice as the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab and is currently the president of Shiromani Akali Dal, and was a member of Parliament from the Firozpur Lok Sabha constituency. He is the son of Parkash Singh Badal, who has served five times as the Chief Minister of Punjab. He is influential over the Sikh organizations of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Badal and his family have ownership stakes in an array of businesses- including real estate, transport and other activities.
Sucha Singh Chhotepur is an Indian politician and vice-president of Shiromani Akali Dal. He was born in Punjab. He was former state convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for Punjab. He is the former state Minister of Tourism and a former independent member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly.
Dilraj Singh Bhunder is an Indian politician, former member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. He is the son of Sardar Balwinder Singh Bhunder, who is currently a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, from the state of Punjab. Dilraj is a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal party. He is a former Vice President of Youth Wing Shiromani Akali Dal party. Dilraj is an engineering graduate from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh.
Jagdev Singh Talwandi was an Indian politician. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1978 as a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), a Sikh-centered regional political party. Talwandi was elected SAD president in 1978 and 1988. He became the President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in 2000. He was elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha thrice in 1967, 1969, and 1972, and was inducted as a Minister of State for Development and Animal Husbandry in the Gurnam Singh Ministry and the Minister of State for Jails, Sports and Transport in the Parkash Singh Badal government. He represented Punjab in the Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1986.
Amrik Singh Aliwal is a grassroots Indian politician who started his political innings as the Sarpanch of Village Aliwal which falls in District Ludhiana. He was imprisoned for six months in 1994 for an agitation regarding democratic rights of the people. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India as a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal and remained the Lok Sabha member from Ludhiana for two terms. On 14 December 2021, he joined Punjab Lok Congress.
Jasbir Singh Gill (Dimpa) is an Indian politician and was a Member of Parliament to the 17th Lok Sabha from Khadoor Sahib (Lok Sabha constituency) of Punjab, India. He won the Indian general election 2019 as an Indian National Congress candidate. In the year 2002 he was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly from Beas constituency. In December 2020, he was in an issue with young female reporter questioning him about the farmers' protest live on TV.
Udham Singh Nagoke was a freedom fighter, Jathedar of Akal Takht and member of Rajya Sabha.