Parkash Singh Badal death: Centre announces 2-day state mourning across India

The central government has announced a two-day state mourning on April 26 and April 27 to pay respects to the former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Parkash Singh Badal. National flags will be flown at half-mast on all government buildings and no official entertainment will take place on during the mourning period. 

Badal died in the ICU of the Fortis Hospital in Mohali at the age of 95. He is survived by his wife Surinder Kaur Badal, son Sukhbir Singh Badal, and daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur Badal. 

The development was confirmed by his son and SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal. The veteran politician was admitted to the Fortis Hospital over a week back when he complained of uneasiness while breathing. His last rites will be performed in Bathinda’s Badal village.

Parkash Singh Badal served as the chief minister of the state for three terms– from 1970-71, 1977-80, and 2007-2017. Badal was Punjab’s youngest chief minister when he first assumed office in 1970. He began his political career in 1947 as a sarpanch of the Badal village. 

He was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour in 2015. Badal returned the award, however, to support the 2020-21 farmers’ protest against the three farm laws in 2020. 

The former Punjab CM was born on December 28, 1927 in a Jat Sikh family in a small village in Punjab.