Charanjit Singh Atwal (born 15 March 1937) is an Indian politician who was Deputy Speaker of the

14th Lok Sabha The 14th Lok Sabha (17 May 2004 – 18 May 2009) was convened after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April – 10 May 2004, which led to the formation of first Manmohan Singh ministry (2004–2009). Indian Nationa ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

from 2004 to 2009. He represented the Phillaur constituency of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

in the 14th Lok Sabha and is a member of the

Shiromani Akali Dal The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (translation: ''Supreme Akali Party'') is a centre-right sikh-centric state political party in Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Congress, being founded in 1920. Although there are many ...

(SAD) political party. He was Speaker of the

Punjab Legislative Assembly The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 members, directl ...

from 1997 to 2002 and again from 2012 to 2017.

Early life

Charanjit Singh Atwal was born to a

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

family''Congressional Record, V. 147, Pt. 8, 12 June 2001 to 25 June 2001 p11493'' in Montgomery, Punjab Province,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(Punjab in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

after partition in 1947). Sardar Atwal's family, like many Punjabis migrated to Indian Punjab as refugees when they found themselves living on the wrong side of the border. He graduated from GGN Khalsa College,

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 Indian census, 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the ...

and then obtained his LLB degree from Panjab University,

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

Political life

Sardar Charanjit Singh Atwal was a member of the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

from 1985 to 1989. He was then Speaker of the Punjab Assembly from 1997 to 2002. He is a respected member of the Indian Parliament for 20 years and has over 40 years of service in politics. He has been in the field of politics since 1957 and was elected to the Punjab State Assembly in 1977. He is considered among the top hierarchy of the

. In the 2001 election Sardar Atwal stood in the Phillaur constituency and crushed his political rival Santosh Chowdhury of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

by a huge margin of 98,884 votes. Santosh Chowdhury was the previous 1999 election winner, winning by what was then a large margin of 26,573 votes.Mahendra Singh Rana. (2006) India Votes: Lok Sabha & Vidhan Sabha Elections 2001-2005. Sarup & Sons publishing From 1997 to 2000 he was Chairman of the Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes. He was jailed during the 1975-77 emergency. He has served as Speaker of Punjab Legislative Assembly for a second time since 2012.

Personal life

Sardar Charanjit.S.Atwal is married to Inderjit Kaur, with whom he has two sons,

Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal is an Indian politician and member of the Shiromani Akali Dal. He was born to Charanjit Singh Atwal at Atwal, Amritsar, Punjab. Atwal was a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly from Kum Kalan Assembly constituen ...

(also a politician & businessman) and Jasjeet Singh Atwal and three daughters, Dr. Kulminderjit Kaur, Parminderjit Kaur and Tripat Kaur Atwal.Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal has one son who is the eldest Azeez Atwal. Jasjeet Atwal has a pair of twins.

References

External links

Members of Fourteenth Lok Sabha - Parliament of India website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwal, Charanjit Singh Living people 1937 births India MPs 2004–2009 People from Jalandhar Politicians from Ludhiana Deputy Speakers of the Lok Sabha Shiromani Akali Dal politicians India MPs 1984–1989 Punjab, India MLAs 1997–2002 Speakers of the Punjab Legislative Assembly Members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly Lok Sabha members from Punjab, India Indians imprisoned during the Emergency (India)