Former Punjab minister Bhagat Chunni Lal passed away on Thursday, his son and Cabinet minister Mohinder Bhagat said.
The 93-year-old Lal breathed his last at his home in Jalandhar.
“Chunni Lal Bhagat ji is no longer with us. We are deeply saddened by his demise,” Mohinder Bhagat, who is the Horticulture minister in the AAP government, said.
His cremation will take place in Jalandhar at 5 pm on Thursday.
The Punjab government declared a half-day holiday in view of Lal’s demise.
Lal was a cabinet minister in the erstwhile SAD-BJP government in 2012. He held the portfolios of Local Government and Medical Education and Research in the then Parkash Singh Badal government.
Several political leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, condoled the death of Lal.
In a post on X, Mann said, “My deepest condolences are with Mohinder Bhagat Ji and their entire family.”
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said he was deeply saddened by the demise of Lal.
“His long public service and contribution to Punjab will always be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to his son Mohinder Bhagat and the entire bereaved family. May Gurusahab grant eternal peace to the departed soul,” Badal said in a post on X.
Congress MP and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa also expressed grief over the death of Lal.
Born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan) on December 1, 1932, Lal’s family settled in Jalandhar after partition.
Lal unsuccessfully contested his first election as an Independent from Jalandhar South in 1985. He won the election from the same constituency on a BJP ticket in 1997.
He again became MLA in 2007 and 2012. In 2012, he contested from Jalandhar West following the delimitation process.
Lal served as deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly in 2011.
His son joined the AAP after quitting the BJP in April 2023.
