Rajinder Kaur Bhattal

2023-11-16T14:15:29Z

RB1: /* Early life */added content

{{short description|Indian politician}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Rajinder Kaur Bhattal
| image =
Rajinder Kaur Bhattal 01.jpg
| imagesize = 200
| smallimage = 
| alt =
| caption =
| order =
| office = 14th [[Chief Ministers of Punjab (India)|Chief Minister of Punjab]]
| term_start = 21 November 1996
| term_end = 11 February 1997
| alongside = 
| office1 = [[List of leaders of the opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly|Leader of opposition in Punjab assembly]]
| term_start1 = 12 February 1997
| term_end1 = 10 October 1998
| predecessor1 = [[Satnam Singh Kainth]]
| successor1 = [[Jagjit Singh (politician)|Chaudhary Jagjit Singh]]
| term_start2 = 1 March 2007
| term_end2 = 14 March 2012
| predecessor2 = [[Parkash Singh Badal]]
| successor2 = [[Sunil Kumar Jakhar]]
| vicepresident =
| viceprimeminister =
| deputy =
| lieutenant =
| monarch =
| president =
| primeminister =
| taoiseach =
| chancellor =
| governor =
| governor-general =
| governor_general =
| succeeding = 
| predecessor = [[Harcharan Singh Brar]]
| successor = [[Parkash Singh Badal]]
| office3 = [[List of deputy chief ministers of Punjab, India|Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab]]
| term_start3 = 6 January 2004
| term_end3 = 1 March 2007
| predecessor3 = [[Balram Das Tandon]]
| successor3 = [[Sukhbir Singh Badal]]
| constituency =
| majority =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|09|03|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Lahore]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British India]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| birthname =
| nationality = Indian
| party = [[Indian National Congress|Congress]]
| otherparty = 
| spouse =
| partner = 
| relations =
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation =
| profession =
| cabinet =
| committees =
| portfolio =
| religion =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
| footnotes =
| blank1 =
| data1 =
| blank2 =
| data2 =
| blank3 =
| data3 =
| blank4 =
| data4 =
| blank5 =
| data5 =
}}
'''Rajinder Kaur Bhattal''' (born 30 September 1945) is an Indian politician and member of [[Indian National Congress|Congress]]. She is a former [[List of Chief Ministers of Punjab (India)|Chief Minister]] of [[Government of Punjab, India|Punjab]] and the first and so far only female to hold the office of Chief Minister in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]].<ref name=transformative /> Overall she is [[List of female Indian chief ministers|8th female Chief Minister]] in India. Since 1992 she has won from [[Lehra Assembly Constituency]] five terms consecutively.

==Early life==
She was born on 30 September 1945 in [[Lahore]] in [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]] to Hira Singh Bhattal and Harnam Kaur. She was married to Lal Singh Sidhu at village [[Changali Wala]], [[Lehragaga]] in [[Sangrur]] district and had two children, a girl and a boy. Her son Rahulinder Singh Sidhu (Bhattal), a politician and businessman, used to accompany her during the terrorism days in Punjab dressed in black clothes as a commando, when he was 10 years old, to motivate people to rise up against terrorism. He has also followed her footsteps and joined the Indian National Congress.

== Political career ==
In 1994, Bhattal was a state education minister in [[Chandigarh]].<ref name=slapped>{{citation|work=[[The Gadsden Times]]|title=Teachers strike after one is slapped|date=27 May 1994}}</ref>
Bhattal became the first female Chief Minister of [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] when she took office after the resignation of [[Harcharan Singh Brar]],<ref name=transformative>{{cite book|last1=Bouton|first1=Marshall M.|last2=Oldenburg|first2=Philip|title=India briefing: a transformative fifty years|page=275|year=1999|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-0339-5}}</ref> serving from November 1996 to February 1997, the eighth female Chief Minister in Indian history.<ref name=ChiefMinisterDates>{{citation|work=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook Magazine]]|title=Mamata Banerjee to be India's 14th Woman CM|date=17 May 2011|accessdate=11 July 2011|url=http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?722255}}</ref> Her initiatives as Chief Minister of Punjab included, in December 1996, a scheme to provide grants of free electricity to small farmers in order to power wells.<ref name=FreePowerForWells>{{citation|work=The Tribune|date=17 December 2001|accessdate=11 July 2011|title=Aftermath of free power bonanza to Punjab farmers|last=Dhillon|first=G.S.|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20011217/agro.htm#1}}</ref>

After the Congress party lost the February 1997 assembly elections in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], bringing an end to her term as Chief Minister, Bhattal took over as president of the [[Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee]] from Singh Randhawa in May,<ref name=ChiefPostIndianExpress>{{citation|work=[[The Indian Express]]|title=Randhawa quits Punjab Congress chief post|date=19 May 1997|accessdate=11 July 2011|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19970519/13950243.html}}</ref> and then as leader of the Congress Legislature Party until October 1998, when she was ousted from her position and replaced by [[Jagjit Singh (politician)|Chaudhary Jagjit Singh]].<ref name=QuestionsRemovalExpressNews>{{citation|work=[[The Indian Express]]|title=Bhattal questions her removal|date=28 November 1998|accessdate=11 July 2011|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19981128/33350214.html}}</ref> Her ousting, amid claims of misleading statements about the involvement of the Congress leadership,<ref name=QuestionsRemovalExpressNews /> was followed by a protracted dispute with [[Amarinder Singh]], who had succeeded her as Punjab Congress president, and who was seen as responsible for her removal. By 2003, Bhattal had publicly pledged to remove Singh from his position as Chief Minister and was backed by dozens of dissident [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|MLA]]s from the Congress party.<ref name=SignedListEconomicTimes>{{citation|work=[[The Economic Times]]|title=Bhattal to give signed list of disgruntled legislators|date=12 December 2003|accessdate=11 July 2011|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2003-12-12/news/27531319_1_rajinder-kaur-bhattal-bhattal-group-mlas}}</ref> The dispute saw intervention from the central command of the Congress party in New Delhi, with [[Sonia Gandhi]] taking a hand in negotiations. Initially the dissident group led by Bhattal rejected any solution other than the removal of Singh.<ref name=DissidentsMayTheTribune>{{citation|work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]|last=Dhaliwal|first=Sarbjit|title=Dissidents may go on Bharat Darshan|date=17 December 2003|accessdate=11 July 2011|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031218/main8.htm}}</ref>

In January 2004, Bhattal accepted a position as deputy chief minister of Punjab, with other dissidents also taking roles in the cabinet, in a bid to heal the divisions.<ref name=DeputyCMTimesOfIndia>{{citation|work=[[The Times of India]]|title=Bhattal deputy CM, expansion soon|date=7 January 2004|accessdate=11 July 2011|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2004-01-07/chandigarh/28345668_1_rajinder-kaur-bhattal-mohsina-kidwai-chief-minister|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908044622/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2004-01-07/chandigarh/28345668_1_rajinder-kaur-bhattal-mohsina-kidwai-chief-minister|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 September 2012}}</ref> Denying that the dissidents had made demands in order to gain these concessions, Bhattal said that she had accepted the post because Sonia Gandhi had asked her to do so.<ref name=AcceptsDeputyCMTimesOfIndia>{{citation|work=[[The Times of India]]|title=Bhattal speaks to reporters on Amarinder|date=10 January 2004|accessdate=11 July 2011|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2004-01-10/chandigarh/28342441_1_punjab-agriculture-minister-rajinder-kaur-bhattal-chief-minister|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910202044/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2004-01-10/chandigarh/28342441_1_punjab-agriculture-minister-rajinder-kaur-bhattal-chief-minister|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 September 2012}}</ref> In March 2007, Bhattal became leader of the Congress Legislature Party in Punjab Vidhan Sabha.<ref name=LeaderOfCLPTheHindu>{{citation|work=[[The Hindu]]|title=Bhattal elected leader of CLP|date=12 March 2007|accessdate=11 July 2011|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200703121551.htm}}</ref> The dispute rumbled on, however, and in April 2008 the party high command once again had to intervene, this time asking both Singh and Bhattal to cease speaking to the media about their disagreements.<ref name=HighCommandPunjabNewsline>{{cite web|title=Congress high command brings truce between Amarinder, Bhattal|url=http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/10085/38/|last=Bains|first=Satinder|date=23 April 2008|accessdate=11 July 2011|work=Punjab Newsline}}</ref>

During this period, Bhattal also saw off attempted prosecutions, with a court acquitting her of corruption charges in April 2008.<ref name=WontFightIndianExpress>{{cite news|last=PTI|date=2 April 2008|title=Badal Govt won't fight Bhattal clean chit|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/badal-govt-wont-fight-bhattal-clean-chit/291237/|work=[[The Indian Express]]|accessdate=11 July 2011}}</ref> Continuing as Punjab Congress leader, she also took credit for successfully pressuring the administration of [[Parkash Singh Badal]] to introduce a debt waiver scheme for farmers.<ref name=ThanksCentreTheHindu>{{cite news|title=Bhattal thanks Centre for debt relief scheme for farmers|date=29 February 2008|work=[[The Hindu]]|accessdate=11 July 2011|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200802291968.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110054354/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200802291968.htm|archive-date=10 November 2012}}</ref>

As of June 2011, Bhattal remains the Punjab Congress Legislature Party leader.<ref name=SchoolGrantsPunjabNewsline>{{cite web|title=Bhattal calls for immediate release of grant to aided schools|url=http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/bhattal-calls-immediate-release-grant-aided-schools/31700|date=18 June 2011|accessdate=11 July 2011|work=Punjab Newsline}}</ref>

She was one of the 42 INC MLAs who submitted their resignation in protest of a decision of the [[Supreme Court of India]] ruling Punjab's termination of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) water canal unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/syl-verdict-42-punjab-congress-mlas-submit-resignation-4369724/ | title=SYL verdict: 42 Punjab Congress MLAs resign | date=11 November 2016 | author=PTI | newspaper=The Indian Express | accessdate=20 April 2018 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhattal, Rajinder Kaur}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Chief Ministers of Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Punjab, India MLAs 1992–1997]]
[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:People from Lahore]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:Women chief ministers of Indian states]]
[[Category:Women in Punjab, India politics]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Opposition in Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Chief ministers from Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:Deputy chief ministers of Punjab, India]]

Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]

Rajinder Kaur Bhattal