Chowdhary Balbir Singh

Chaudhry Balbir Singh was an Indian politician.

Early life

He was born in Hoshiarpur, Punjab to a family of farmers.

Career

He joined the independence struggle at age 17 in 1934. He used his family printing press to produce propaganda against the British Raj. He was jailed several times during the Raj.

He joined politics immediately after independence. In 1948 he quit the Congress party and joined the Sanjukt Socialist party as part of the Lohia group. He contested his first Assembly election in 1952 and lost. After that he contested every Assembly election, winning in 1957, 1967 and 1969. In 1975 he was jailed with other opposition leaders during Indira Gandhi's administration. He was released in June 1977. In 1977 he contested the Lok Sabha election on the Janata Party ticket and became a member of Parliament. He showed his disagreement with Khalistan movement.

He was assassinated by terrorists on 10 May 1985. He was known as the 'Sher e Punjab' by people of Punjab and 'Man with the red turban' in the Parliament house. He worked for the underprivileged.