Harsimrat Kaur Badal
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A brief biography
As in 2019, May
May 31, 2019: The Times of India
Born: July 25, 1966
Experience: 2 Lok Sabha Terms
The Badal bahu, Harsimrat Kaur, has only seen highs in her first decade as a politician — she is a three-time MP from the Badal stronghold of Bathinda, was a minister with independent charge in PM Narendra Modi’s first government and now has made it to the Cabinet. She also made history for the Shiromani Akali Dal — she is the first MP in its 98-year history to be made a Union minister twice in consecutive terms.
Her father Satyajit Singh Majithia and grandfather Surjit Singh Majithia were Congress politicians and it was her marriage to Sukhir, only son of SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, in 1991 that shifted her family’s allegiance to the Akalis. Her younger brother Bikram Majithia is a SAD MLA and was a minister during Badal Senior’s tenure as chief minister.
Harsimrat actively campaigned for her husband in 1996 when he contested his first Lok Sabha election from Faridkot. However, her entry into politics in 2009 created news — she defeated Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh’s son Raninder by over 1.2 lakh votes in Bathinda. She was reelected in 2014 by defeating her husband’s estranged cousin Manpreet Singh Badal, the current finance minister of Punjab. Her third straight election was not a cakewalk, especially with voter anger against SAD. However, she managed to defeat Congress MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Warring by 21,772 votes.
