Veteran Akali leader and former Union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa,89, died Wednesday evening following age-related health issues at a private hospital in Mohali. According to a statement by the hospital, Dhindsa was admitted on Tuesday in a critical condition. He was suffering from severe pneumonia and cardiac complications, compounded by age-related health issues.
Dhindsa's son Parminder Singh Dhindsa was the finance minister in the erstwhile Akali government. Sukhdev Dhindsa became Shiromani Akali Dal Lok Sabha MP from Sangrur in 2004. He was the Union minister of sports, chemicals and fertilizers in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Dhindsa was a Rajya Sabha MP from 1998 to 2004 and from 2010 to 2022. The Akali stalwart was given Padma Bhushan in 2019, but he then announced that he would return it in solidarity with farmers who were on protest against the now-repealed three fam laws.
In 1972, he became an MLA from the Dhanaula Assembly seat, contesting as an Independent. Later, he became an MLA from Sunam and Sangrur assembly constituencies. After Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, Dhindsa was the senior-most leader in the Shiromani Akali Dal.
In 2018, he resigned from all positions in the party, alleging that the 'taksali' (old guard) leaders were being sidelined in the party. He raised a banner of revolt against the party leadership in 2020 and he floated own outfit, Shiromani Akali Dal (Democrat).