Punjab Vidhan Sabha’s former Deputy Speaker and two-time Congress legislator Bir Devinder Singh passed away at PGI Chandigarh on Friday at the age of 73.

Bir Devinder, a forthright leader who has made a mark in Punjab politics, died while undergoing treatment at the PGI Chandigarh. His close associates informed that Bir Devinder had been detected with cancer in his food pipe (esophagus) of late, and was taken to PGI for treatment.

Even as it was the first stage of cancer, Bir Devinder’s health deteriorated after he underwent chemotherapy and breathed his last at the PGI on Friday afternoon.  He served as Punjab’s Deputy Speaker between 2003 and 2004 and was a two-time MLA from the Congress bastion first representing the Sirhind constituency and later the Kharar assembly constituency.

He started his political career as early as in 1971 as the leader of the All India Students’ Federation (AISSF) when he was just in his early 20s. In 1978, he joined the Congress in 1978 and was chosen by the national party to fight election from Sirhind in 1980 which he won with a handsome margin. He was active in the political affairs of the constituency by working to improve the literacy of the state, improve health and sanitation, and to improve the infrastructure of the Sirhind district.

Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring among others expressed their deep grief and sorrow over the sad demise of former Deputy Speaker of Punjab Legislative Assembly.