Chandigarh: Former Punjab chief minister, federal minister and governor of Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh, Surjit Singh Barnala, died in Chandigarh on Saturday following a brief illness. He was 91.
Barnala, who ruled Punjab from 1985 to 1987, was admitted to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) recently.
He served as the governor of Tamil Nadu from 1990-91 and again from 2004-2011, as Andhra Pradesh governor from 2003-2004 and later was appointed the first governor of the then newly-created state of Uttaranchal (now Uttarakhand) from November 2000 to January 2003.
He also held additional charge as governor in Orissa (now Odisha). He also served as lieutenant governor of Andaman and Nicobar and Pondicherry (now Pudducherry).
The agriculture minister in the Janata Party government of Morarji Desai (1977-1979), he also held the portfolio of chemicals and fertilisers in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998.
Born on October 21, 1925 in Ateli village (now in Mahendergarh district of Haryana), Barnala did his graduation in law from Lucknow before entering politics.
He remained a member of the Punjab assembly and the Lok Sabha to the end.
Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal condoled the death of Barnala and recalled the services rendered by him as Tamil Nadu governor, Punjab chief minister and a federal minister.
Badal said that the former chief minister was an able administrator and a fine human being with qualities of head and heart.
