Jagdev Singh Talwandi

Jagdev Singh Talwandi (24 June 1929 – 19 September 2014) was an Indian politician.

Talwandi was born at Chak No. 52, Lyallpur District (now in Pakistan) on 24 June 1929.

His father, Jathedar Chhanga Singh, was a landlord in Mullanpur village in Lyallpur district.

Chhanga Singh had actively participated in all Sikh morchas, including those of Guru Kal Bagh, Gangsar, Jaitu Nabha, Nankana Sahib, and Duska.

As he was a member of the Lyallpur District Board at the time, his lambardar, which entitled him to a free land holding of 25 acres, was forfeited because of his actions.

When no one in the village accepted the lambardar, the Government was forced to pass it on to his Talwandi, who did not have formal schooling.

In an interview, he admitted that he had never attended school.

"I am an illiterate person. I have no formal education. Whatever little I know is what I have learned from experience in these 70 years. I firmly believe religion is the guiding light in everyone's life".

After independence, Chhanga Singh settled at Talwandi village in Ludhiana district, and was unanimously elected the sarpanch in 1955 for a decade.

He earned the title of Loh Purush for his role in early years of Akali politics followed by arrests in all Punjabi Suba morchas, along with his brother Master Dev Raj Singh.

In 1960 and 1965 he was chosen as a member of the SGPC.

He was appointed Senior Vice-President of the Akali Dal after Fateh Singh's death, and remained a member of the Akali Dal Working Committee since 1960.

He was detained under the MISA for eighteen months during the emergency imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and remained in Patiala jail with the late Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, other leaders of the political parties, and the Akali Dal.

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 was elected thrice to become a member of the Punjab Assembly in 1967, 1969, and 1972, and was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977.

He was inducted as the Minister of State for Development and Animal Husbandry in the Gurnam Singh Ministry, and was also unanimously elected Leader of the Akali Legislature Party in 1967.

He was the Minister of State for Jails, Sports and Transport in the Parkash Singh Badal Ministry.

He was arrested on 9 July 1975 for being a part of the first jatha against the Emergency and spent 19 months in jail.

As the emergency was lifted by Gandhi in January 1977, all the political leaders opposed to Indira Gandhi were released and there was a discussion to merge political parties to form one political party in the Centre.

The Janata Party was created as a result.

On Mr. Mohan Singh Tur's indisposition in April 1977, Jathedar Talwandi was appointed Acting President of the Akali Dal.

As a member of the Dal Parliamentary Board and chief of the party, he helped it win 58 out of 116 Punjab Assembly seats.

He declared that the Akali Dal would cooperate with the newly formed Janata Party but would not merge with it and would remain its separate entity.

Talwandi brought Parkash Singh Badal back to Punjab politics after the latter fell sick.

In the 1977 Vidhan Sabha elections that followed the Lok Sabha elections, The Akali Dal and Janata parties came into power with Badal as Chief Minister.

The trio of Akali Dal (Jagdev Singh Talwandi, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, and Prakash Singh Badal) dominated the political scene.

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.

Talwandi organized the All India Akali Conference in Ludhiana in the month of October 1978 after 13 Sikhs were killed in a fight between Nirankaris and Akhand Kirtani Jatha followers.

The conference was a big success and the Anandpur Sahib Resolution was passed with some amendments.

The Akali-Janata Government was working smoothly when issues of alleged corruption by education minister Sukhjinder Singh surfaced.

Badal wanted to remove Sukhjinder Singh while Talwandi and Tohra opposed.

Sukhjinder Singh was ousted from the cabinet and two ministers, Jaswinder Singh Brar and Randhir Singh Cheema, resigned as a show of solidarity with Sukhjinder Singh.

This widened the differences between Badal on one side and Talwandi and Tohra on the other.

Tohra reconciled with Badal and a complaint against Talwandi was made to the Akal Takhat and he was summoned by the Jathedar Akal Takhat who declared he wasn't "tankhwaya".

He represented Punjab in the Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1986.

In 1980 Talwandi parted ways with Badal and ftormed his own Akali Dal (Talwandi).

Meanwhile, Gandhi returned to power and she dismissed the Badal Government.

Talwandi led a jatha to Delhi where he was detained in Tihar Jail for more than 18 months.

He became the President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in 2000.