Gurnam Singh (25 February 1899 – 31 May 1973) was an Indian politician and the Chief Minister of Punjab from 8 March 1967 to 25 November 1967, and again between 17 February 1969 to 27 March 1970. He was the first Shiromani Akali Dal Chief minister of Punjab. His ministry fell due to defection of

Lachhman Singh Gill Lachhman Singh Gill (1917 – 26 April 1969) was an Indian politician who served as the 12th Chief Minister of Punjab. He remained in this post from 25 November 1967 to 22 August 1968. He was a member of Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD), a Sikh-cente ...

, who became the next Chief Minister with the support 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 E ...

. He died in an air crash in Delhi on 31 May 1973.

Early life

Singh was born in

Narangwal Narangwal is a village in Ludhiana Punjab, India, where most of the Grewal clan live. The Grewals are mainly Sikhs. The famous school Drishti Dr.R.C.Jain Innovative Public School is in Narangwal. Jaswinder Singh Grewal working at the "Nehru ...

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

on 25 February 1899 in a Grewal Jatt family. He graduated from the

Forman Christian College Forman Christian College is an private liberal arts university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church. The university follows an American-style curriculum. Founded in 1864 by America ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

. He captained the

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

team of Punjab University.

Law career

Singh practiced

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

Lyallpur Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur (Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pak ...

(Present day

Faisalabad Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur (Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pakis ...

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 ...

). Later he served as the president of the Bar Association, there. During the

partition of Punjab The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

, Singh moved to

Punjab, India Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...

. He was made the judge of the PEPSU and Punjab High Courts in 1950. He retired from this post in 1959.

Political career

In 1959, he joined Shiromani Akali Dal. In 1962, he became the member of

Punjab Vidhan Sabha 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, direct ...

from Raikot. He defeated congress candidate Inder Mohan Singh. Akali Dal president Sant Fateh Singh made Gurnam Singh the head of the legislative wing of the party. He served as the leader of opposition in

from 1962 to 1967. In 1967, he won from Qila Raipur constituency, which he defended in 1969 too. In 1967 he became the first non-

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

Chief Minister of Punjab of Punjab. He led a coalition government of Akali Dal,

Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) (ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the pol ...

and communists. However, his government could not complete the full term. He again became chief minister in 1969. Later he served as High Commissioner of India in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Death

Singh died in an air crash in Delhi on 31 May 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Gurnam 1899 births 1973 deaths Singh, Gurnam Punjabi people Punjab, India MLAs 1967–1972 People from Ludhiana district Punjab, India MLAs 1962–1967 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in India Chief ministers from Shiromani Akali Dal Shiromani Akali Dal politicians High Commissioners of India to Australia