Charanjit Singh Atwal (born 15 March 1937) is an Indian politician who was Deputy Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

from 2004 to 2009. He represented the Phillaur constituency of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

in the 14th Lok Sabha and is a member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP) political party. He was Speaker of the

Punjab Legislative Assembly The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab (India), Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 M ...

from 1997 to 2002 and again from 2012 to 2017.

Early life

Charanjit Singh Atwal was born to a Mazhabi Sikh family''Congressional Record, V. 147, Pt. 8, 12 June 2001 to 25 June 2001 p11493'' in Montgomery, Punjab Province,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(Punjab in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

after partition in 1947). Sardar Atwal's family, like many Punjabis migrated to Indian Punjab as refugees when they found themselves living on the wrong side of the border. He graduated from GGN Khalsa College,

Ludhiana Ludhiana () is the most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab.164.100.161.224 http://164.100.161.224 › filesPDF Ludhiana State: Punjab Business & Industrial Centre, Tier 2 1 ... The city has an estima ...

and then obtained his LLB degree from Panjab University,

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

Political life

Charanjit Singh Atwal was a member of the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

from 1985 to 1989. He was then Speaker of the Punjab Assembly from 1997 to 2002. He is a respected member of the Indian Parliament for 20 years and has over 40 years of service in politics. He has been in the field of politics since 1957 and was elected to the Punjab State Assembly in 1977. He is considered among the top hierarchy of the Shiromani Akali Dal. In the 2001 election Sardar Atwal stood in the Phillaur constituency (SC) and crushed his political rival Santosh Chowdhury of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

by a huge margin of 98,884 votes. Santosh Chowdhury was the previous 1999 election winner, winning by what was then a large margin of 26,573 votes.Mahendra Singh Rana. (2006) India Votes: Lok Sabha & Vidhan Sabha Elections 2001-2005. Sarup & Sons publishing From 1997 to 2000 he was Chairman of the Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes. He was jailed during the 1975-77 emergency. He has served as Speaker of Punjab Legislative Assembly for a second time since 2012.

Personal life

Sardar Charanjit.S.Atwal is married to Inderjit Kaur, with whom he has two sons, Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal (also a politician & businessman) and Jasjeet Singh Atwal and three daughters, Dr. Kulminderjit Kaur, Parminderjit Kaur and Tripat Kaur Atwal. Jasjeet Atwal has a pair of twins. He belongs to the Backward and Schedule Caste (SC).

References

External links

Members of Fourteenth Lok Sabha - Parliament of India website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwal, Charanjit Singh Living people 1937 births India MPs 2004–2009 People from Jalandhar Politicians from Ludhiana Deputy speakers of the Lok Sabha Former members of Shiromani Akali Dal Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Punjab India MPs 1984–1989 Punjab, India MLAs 1997–2002 Speakers of the Punjab Legislative Assembly Punjab, India MLAs 2012–2017 Lok Sabha members from Punjab, India Indian people imprisoned during the Emergency (India)