Mr. Kirpal Singh, who has been elected to the Lok Sabha from Amnitsar as an Independent candidate belongs to that band of Congress workers who took an active part in the freedom struggle.
Born in 1916 at Narowal Sankhatra village in Sialkot, now in Pakistan, he lost his parents before he was nine. After matriculation, he started taking active part in politics by joining the Indian National Congress. He was imprisoned both during the noncooperation movement and the Quit India movement.
After partition he settled in Amritsar, and he found it “suffocating to stay in the Congress any longer.” In 1951 he joined the Socialist Party and continued to be one of its activists until its merger with the Janata Party in 1977.
He was elected to the Punjab Assembly from the Amritsar South constituency on the Socialist Party ticket. In 1973 he became the President of the Amritsar Municipal Committee.
He raised his voice against the “excesses” committed during the Emergency and was imprisoned for 19 months.
In 1985 he was again elected to the Assembly from Amritsar South as a nominee of the Janata Party and was its lone representative in the House.
Although he contested the recent Lok Sabha elections as an Independent after revolting against the Janata Dal high command for agreeing to leave the seat for a BJP stalwart, Dr. Baldev Parkash, he got the backing of the Akali Dal (Mann).
Mr. Kirpal Singh has been closely associated with various Sikh voluntary and religious organizations. He is a former President of the Chief Khalsa Diwan.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 22, 1989
