Harcharan Singh Brar (21 January 1922 – 6 September 2009) was an Indian politician belonging to the

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

unit of

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 was the 13th Chief Minister of Punjab and held this position from 31 August 1995 to 21 November 1996. He succeeded the assassinated Chief Minister Beant Singh. At the time he was 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 Muktsar Assembly Constituency.

Personal life

Harcharan Singh Brar, son of Sardar Balwant Singh Brar, was born on 21 January 1919 into a Brar Jat of Sarai Naga Royal Family, which lies along National Highway 16 between

Sri Muktsar Sahib Sri Muktsar Sahib (/ʃriː ˈmʊktsər saːhɪb/) (often referred to as Muktsar (/ˈmʊktsər/)) is a historical city and district headquarters in Punjab, India. The 2011 Census of India put the total population of Sri Muktsar Sahib municipality ...

and

Kot Kapura Kot Kapura is a historic city in Faridkot district, some 50 km from Bathinda, 40 km from Moga and 30 km from Muktsar in the state of Punjab, India. It is the largest city in the Faridkot District and has a large cotton market. ...

. He studied at

Aitchison College Aitchison College ( ur, ایچیسن کالج) is an independent, semi-private boys school for boarding and day students from grade 1–13 in Lahore, Pakistan. It has a tradition of providing an education that uses academics, sports, and co-curri ...

and later graduated from Government College,

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 married twice. His first wife was Jagir Kaur, daughter of Sardar Karnail Singh Sandhu of village Bhutter near Sadiq town in district Faridkot. He had one daughter from the first marriage, Charanjit Kaur, who he got married into the Rethgarhia family of Patiala. His second wife was Gurbinder Kaur, daughter of Jaswant Singh Kairon, who was the brother of

Pratap Singh Kairon Partap Singh Kairon (1 October 1901 – 6 February 1965) was the Chief Minister of the Punjab province (then comprising Punjab, Haryana and part of Himachal Pradesh), and is widely acknowledged as the architect of post-Independence Punjab Provi ...

, sometime Chief Minister of Punjab. By his second marriage, H.S. Brar had two children, a son Kanwarjit Singh Brar and a daughter, Kanwaljit Kaur. Brar's only son, Kanwarjit Singh Brar (1949- 2012), was a politician and a two-term MLA from Muktsar.

Political career

Brar was a member of

five times: from

Muktsar Sri Muktsar Sahib (/ʃriː ˈmʊktsər saːhɪb/) (often referred to as Muktsar (/ˈmʊktsər/)) is a historical city and district headquarters in Punjab, India. The 2011 Census of India put the total population of Sri Muktsar Sahib municipali ...

in 1960–62, re-elected in 1962-67 and 1992–97,

Giddarbaha Giddarbaha, is a town and a municipal council in Muktsar district, in the Indian state of Punjab. Under British rule During that time, it took the shape of a town from the small village and when the Britishers reached here they wrongly pronoun ...

in 1967–72,

Kotkapura Kot Kapura is a historic city in Faridkot district, some 50 km from Bathinda, 40 km from Moga and 30 km from Muktsar in the state of Punjab, India. It is the largest city in the Faridkot District and has a large cotton market. ...

in 1969–74.Mr. Brar cremated with full State Honour’s at his native village
/ref> He served as the

Governor of Odisha The governor of Odisha is the head of state and representative of the president of India in the Indian state of Odisha. The governors have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the President of India at centr ...

from February 1977 to September 1977, and

Governor of Haryana This is a list of governors of the Indian state of Haryana, which was carved out from Punjab on 1 November 1966. Governors of Haryana See also * Haryana * Governors of India References External links Raj Bhavan, Haryana {{Use dmy dates ...

from 24 September 1977 to 9 December 1979. He took over as Chief Minister of Punjab on 31 August 1995 after the assassination of the chief minister Beant Singh in a bomb blast outside the Punjab and Haryana Secretariat in

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 ...

. He is credited with the creation of Muktsar and Moga districts out of Faridkot district. He has also served as Minister of Irrigation and Power, and Minister of Health and Family Welfare.

Death

Brar died in Chandigarh on 6 September 2009 after a long illness at the age of 87 years.Former Haryana governor Harcharan Singh Brar dead
/ref>

References

1922 births 2009 deaths Chief Ministers of Punjab, India Governors of Haryana Governors of Odisha Punjabi people Punjab, India MLAs 1992–1997 Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Indian National Congress politicians from Odisha Indian National Congress politicians from Punjab, India {{Odisha-INC-politician-stub