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Surjit Singh Barnala (born October 21, 1925) is the present governor of Tamil Nadu, India. He has held that position since November 2004,he has had a long career in Indian politics and is also one of the tallest and oldest anti congress leader today. During his eventful career in Indian politics he has been Governor of four states, Chief Minister of Punjab, a Minister in the Union Cabinet twice, a Vice-Presidential candidate .
Early lifeBarnala was born in Ateli village, which was then part of Nabha, Punjab state, but is now part of Haryana. Born of a well-to-do family (his father was a magistrate), Barnala passed Law from Lucknow University in 1946. In Lucknow, he was involved in the Quit India Movement of 1942. Subsequently he practised law for some years, and became politically active in the late '60s, rising through the ranks of Akali Dal. Though, he first stood for election in 1952 but lost by a meager 4 votes. PoliticsBarnala served as chief minister of Punjab from September 29, 1985 until May 11, 1987. Barnala, a Sikh and a member of the Sikh political party Shiromani Akali Dal served as chief minister at a difficult time, this was a period of terrorism in Punjab. The state had been under president's rule from 1983 to 1985, and after nearly two years in office, Barnala was forced out and the state was put under president's rule for another three years. Since then, Barnala has served as a governor of several states. He first served as governor of Tamil Nadu from 1990 to 1991 for about seven months. Barnala refused to recommend the dismissal of the Tamil Nadu government, and when he was later transferred as Governor of Bihar he choose to resign. </ref> He was the governor of Uttarakhand from its creation in 2000 until 2003, and governor of Andhra Pradesh from 2003 to 2004 , when he took up his current post as governor of Tamil-Nadu. In 1997, Barnala was a candidate to be the vice-president of India but was defeated in Parliament by Krishan Kant. Barnala was elected to the Indian Parliament thrice. In 1977 he served as Food, Agriculture & Rural Development minister in Morarji Desai Ministry after Badal decided to focus on state politics and in 1998 as Chemical & Fertilizers, Food & Consumer Affairs minister in the Second Vajpayee Ministry.He lost the Lok Sabha elections in 1999. His two sons , Dhaliwal and Gaganjit have been in the nick of controversies. Gaganjit, an ex member pf State ssembly was arrested under charges of rape by his masseur. Dhaliwal, who has changed his name to Jasjit, is a defaulter and he was involved in check bounce cases and also as a defaulter of crores worth of loan to the Punjab government.Dhaliwal is now a businessman based in Chennai and the media has been carrying stories of nepotism hand in glove with a local well known criminal especially in Universities in TamilNadu. Soft spoken Surjit Singh Barnala had always turned a blind eye to his sons mischiefs and says all controversey is political. In India, when politicians face problems they will call it political while when they succeed they will claim it was the victory of Justice and right. Barnala is no exception. Author
He has authored a book "Story of an Escape" which has been translated in Hindi by Mr Vijay Ahlawat. His second book that was released in December 2007, is a heart-wrenching story titled " My Other Two Daughters". Painting is his hobby and four exhibitions of his works have been held. The proceeds from his recent exhibitions went to charity.[1] FamilySurjit Singh Barnala is married to Surjit Kaur Barnala. They have one daughter and three sons. The youngest son was killed in an accident in 1996. They have seven grandchildren. ReferencesExternal links
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