Former Punjab minister Tota Singh passes away

BATHINDA: Two-time cabinet minister in Punjab, Jathedar Tota Singh, passed away at his Moga residence in the wee hours of Saturday. He was 81.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader had served as education minister in Parkash Singh Badal government from 1997 to 2202 and then as agriculture, and NRI affairs minister again in the Badal government from 2012 to 2017.
Earlier he had served as chairman Punjabi Mandi Board from 1985-87 during Surjit Singh Barnala government.
Tota Singh was suffering from lung infection for quite some time now and only a day earlier had returned home from a private hospital.
As his sons are living abroad, the cremation will take place at Moga in May 24.
Shiromani Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal and party president Sukh ir Singh Badal have expressed condolences over the demise of Tota Singh. He was a close associate of Parkash Singh Badal and Surjit Singh Barnala.
Singh had won from Moga assembly constituency in 1997 and was made a minister. He again won in 2002 but Congress formed the government. He lost in 2007 from Moga and shifted to nearby Dharamkot assembly seent from where he won in 2012 and was made a minister. He lost in 2017 from Dharamkot while his son Barjinder Singh lost from Moga.
Despite both father-son having lost the election in 2017 from their respective assembly constituencies, they were fielded by Akali Dal from the same constituencies in the 2022 assembly elections.