Harpal Singh Cheema (born 10 February 1974) is an

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, ) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then gover ...

MLA from Dirba Assembly constituency located in

Sangrur District Sangrur district is in the state of Punjab in northern India. Sangrur city is the district headquarters. It is one of the five districts in Patiala Division in the Indian state of Punjab. Neighbouring districts are Malerkotla (north), Barna ...

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 March 2022, he became first BobA to be a finance minister of Punjab. He joined the

just before the

2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number) * One of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017, 2117 Science * Chlorine, a halogen in the periodic table * 17 Thetis, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American mag ...

. He contested and won the election from Dirba Assembly constituency against a popular Punjabi Kabbadi player Gulzar Singh Moonak from

Shiromani Akali Dal The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (translation: ''Supreme Eternal Party'') is a centre-right Sikh-centric state political party in Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Congress, being founded in 1920. Although there are ma ...

and Ajaib Singh Ratolan from

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 ...

. In July 2018 he was appointed leader of opposition of

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 ...

Career

A graduate from Government Ranbir College,

Sangrur Sangrur is a city in the Indian state of Punjab, India. It is the headquarters of Sangrur District. Geography Sangrur is located at . It has an average elevation of 237 metres (778 feet). Climate Health services City has PGIM ...

, and having done his LLB from

Punjabi University Punjabi University is a collegiate state public university located in Patiala, Punjab, India, Punjab, India. It was established on 30 April 1962 and is only the second university in the world to be named after a language, after Hebrew Universit ...

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubar ...

, he also participated in student politics as the campus president of Left-leaning

Students' Federation of India The Students' Federation of India (SFI) is a left-wing student organization in India that upholds ideology of independence, democracy, and socialism. History The origin of Indian students movement in its organised form can be traced to th ...

(SFI) while studying law. He led the Sangrur Bar Association in 2014. As a lawyer, he is also fighting AAP’s Delhi MLA Naresh Yadav’s case in the district courts over accusations of Quran desecration in Malerkotla in 2016.

Member of Legislative Assembly, 2017–2022

In a triangular fight from Dirba, he defeated Congress candidate Ajaib Singh Ratol and

’s Gulzar Singh. In 2017–2018 he was in the Punjab Assembly committee on government assurances. From 2017 to 2019, he was in the committee on welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class. ; Committee assignments of Punjab Legislative Assembly *Member (2017–2018) Committee on Government Assurances *Member (2017–2019) Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes

Leader of opposition

Fifteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly 2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election for the constitution of the Fifteenth Legislative Assembly was held in the Indian state of Punjab (India), Punjab on 4 February 2017 to elect the 117 members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The counti ...

was the main

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comedy ...

party. Since July 2018, Cheema served as the

leader of opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

with

Saravjit Kaur Manuke Saravjit Kaur Manuke (25 July 1972) is an Indian politician and the MLA in the Punjab Legislative Assembly representing the Jagraon Assembly constituency. She is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party. The first time she contested election in 2017 on ...

as the deputy leader of opposition. His term as the leader of the opposition ended with the dissolution of the Fifteenth Punjab assembly on 11 March 2022. The dissolution was necessitated after the results of the election were declared on 10 March.

Member of Legislative Assembly, 2022–2027

He was elected as the MLA in the

2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in Elections in Punjab, India, Punjab on 2022 elections in India, 20 February 2022 to elect the List of constituencies of the Punjab Legislative Assembly, 117 members of the Sixteenth Punjab Legislative ...

. He represented the Dirba Assembly constituency in the

. Cheema took oath as a cabinet minister along with nine other MLAs on 19 March at Guru Nanak Dev auditorium of

Punjab Raj Bhavan Raj Bhavan, Punjab is the Raj Bhavan ("Government House") or official residence of the governor of Punjab. Punjab Raj Bhavan is located in Chandigarh, the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana, on the shore of Sukhna Lake just sout ...

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 ...

. The Aam Aadmi Party gained a strong 79% majority in the

sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly Election for the Sixteenth Legislative Assembly was held in the Indian state of Punjab (India), Punjab. Polling was done on 20 February 2022 to elect the 117 members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The counting of votes declaration of resul ...

by winning 92 out of 117 seats in the

. MP

Bhagwant Mann Bhagwant Singh Mann (born 17 October 1973), better known by his stage name "Jugnu", is an Indian politician, social worker, former comedian, singer and actor who is currently serving as the 17th Chief Minister of Punjab since 2022. He represen ...

was sworn in as

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

on 16 March 2022. In September 2022, Aam Aadmi Party, the ruling party in Punjab, accused BJP of spending ₹1375 Crore in Punjab to bribe the AAP MLAs under

Operation Lotus Operation Lotus may refer to: *Indonesian invasion of East Timor (1975–1976), a conflict fought between the Indonesian New Order and East Timor. *Operation Kamala (2008–present), a term coined in India to refer to the Bharatiya Janata Party's ...

. Punjab's Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said in a press conference, "Our MLAs have been approached with offers of up to Rs 25 crore to break away from AAP. The MLAs were told: “bade bau ji se milwayenge”. These MLAs have also been offered big posts. They were told that if you get more MLAs along, you would be given up to Rs 75 crore."

Cabinet Minister

As a cabinet minister in the

Mann ministry The Bhagwant Mann ministry is the State Cabinet of Punjab, India headed by the present List of chief ministers of Punjab (India), Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The oath-taking ceremony of Mann was held at Khatkar Kalan village on 16 March 2022. T ...

, Cheema was given the charge of five departments of the Punjab Government: # Department of Finance # Department of Planning # Department of Programme Implementation # Department of Excise & Taxation # Department of Cooperation On 5 July, Bhagwant Mann announced the expansion of his cabinet of ministers with five new ministers to the departments of Punjab state government. Cheema's charge of Cooperation ministry ended on 5 July with CM Bhagwant Mann taking the charge of the same. Cheema continued to hold the charge of following departments. # Department of Finance # Department of Planning # Department of Programme Implementation # Department of Excise & Taxation

Electoral performance

Family

Son of Mehar Singh and Manjeet Kaur, he was born in Cheema village in Dhuri subdivision, he has five siblings, two brothers and three sisters. Now he lives in Sangrur with his wife and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheema, Harpal Singh Living people Aam Aadmi Party politicians from Punjab, India 1974 births Punjab, India MLAs 2017–2022 Punjab, India MLAs 2022–2027 Mann ministry Finance ministers of Punjab, India