Jarnail Singh (1973 – 14 May 2021) was an Indian journalist and politician belonging to the

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 ...

(AAP). He was a member of the

Delhi Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi is the unicameral legislature of the union territory of Delhi in India. Delhi Legislative Assembly is the legislative arm of the Government of Delhi. At present, it consists ...

, representing the

Rajouri Garden Rajouri Garden is a market and residential neighbourhood in West Delhi, India. The Main Market and Nehru Market are the key markets of the area. The population is largely Punjabi who migrated to Delhi, following the Partition of India, from Pak ...

constituency until 6 January 2017, when he resigned as MLA to compete for the AAP against sitting CM

Parkash Singh Badal Parkash Singh Badal (8 December 1927 – 25 April 2023) was an Indian politician and Sikh rights advocate who served as the 8th Chief Minister of Punjab from 1970 to 1971, from 1977 to 1980, from 1997 to 2002, and from 2007 to 2017, the longes ...

Education and journalism career

Jarnail Singh obtained a diploma in journalism from the YMCA Institute for Media Studies and Information Technology. He started his career as a reporter for ''

Amar Ujala ''Amar Ujala'' () is a Hindi-language daily newspaper published in India which was founded in 1948. It has 22 editions in six states and two union territories covering 180 districts. It has a circulation of around two million copies. The 2019 ...

''. He then worked as a correspondent with the Hindi-language daily ''

Dainik Jagran ''Dainik Jagran'' () is an Indian Hindi-language daily newspaper. In terms of circulation, it was ranked 5th in the world in 2016 and 1st in India in 2022. In 2019 Quarter 4, according to Indian Readership Survey, Dainik Jagran reported a to ...

'' for over a decade.Jarnail Singh: Profile of a shoe thrower
/ref> Singh gained media attention when he threw a shoe at India's Home Minister

P. Chidambaram Palaniappan Chidambaram (born 16 September 1945), better known as P. Chidambaram, is an Indian politician and lawyer who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee o ...

during a press conference on 7 April 2009. Singh was upset that the minister's party, 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 ...

, had given poll tickets to leaders who had been accused of instigating the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom. The leaders had been "cleared" of any involvement by the

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the domestic crime investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and gover ...

(CBI) when the Congress government was in power. Responding to Jarnail Singh's question, Chidambaram stated that the CBI had not acted under government pressure, and had only submitted its reports to the court and that it was up to the courts to make a decision. Singh was not satisfied with the answer and threw a shoe at the minister in protest. Singh later stated:

I admit my method was wrong, but the sentiment was right. I do not wish that any journalist should behave in this manner.

Chidambaram did not press charges against him.

Political career

Jarnail Singh contested the 2014 general elections as an AAP candidate from

West Delhi West Delhi is one of the 11 administrative districts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. Administratively, the district is divided into three subdivisions, Patel Nagar, Rajouri Garden and Punjabi Bagh. West Delhi is bound by t ...

. He lost to Pravesh Verma of BJP by a margin of 268,586 votes. In 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, he won from the Rajouri Garden constituency. He is sometimes confused with Jarnail Singh, an AAP MLA from Tilak Nagar in Delhi. Singh died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in 2021.

References

External links

Profile on AAP website
2021 deaths Aam Aadmi Party candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Indian newspaper journalists Indian Sikhs Delhi MLAs 2015–2020 Aam Aadmi Party politicians from Delhi 1973 births Journalists from Delhi Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India {{AAP-politician-stub