Veteran Akali leader and former Union Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa was remembered with deep respect by political leaders across party lines on Thursday, a day after his passing at the age of 89 due to age-related ailments.
His mortal remains were kept at his residence in Chandigarh for public homage. The cremation will take place on Friday, May 30, in his native village Ubhawal in Sangrur district.
Several prominent leaders visited the family to pay their respects, including Punjab Cabinet Minister Barinder Goyal, Akali MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali, former MLA Bikram Singh Majithia and his wife and MLA Ganieve Kaur, BJP leaders Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi and Manpreet Singh Badal, Congress MLAs Pargat Singh, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, former Minister Brahm Mohindra, and former MLA Kulbir Singh Zira.
Recalling his long association with Dhindsa, BJP leader Sodhi said, “His passing leaves a significant void in Punjab’s political landscape.”
A towering figure in Punjab politics, Sukhdev Dhindsa served as Lok Sabha MP from Sangrur in 2004 and held key portfolios in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government as Union Minister for Sports, Chemicals, and Fertilisers. He was also a Rajya Sabha MP from 1998 to 2004 and again from 2010 to 2022.
Honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2019, Dhindsa later announced he would return the award in solidarity with protesting farmers against the three contentious farm laws, which were eventually repealed.
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