Tota Singh (1941–2022) was an Indian politician and senior leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal. In 2012, during the Shiromani Akali Dal-led Punjab government, he was appointed Minister for Agriculture and NRI Affairs. During his tenure as SAD leader, Tota Singh served as senior vice president, member of the Shiromani Akali Dal high power committee and member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.
Wiki/Biography
Tota Singh was born as Didar Singh Wala in Moga, Punjab, British India on Sunday, March 2, 1941. He was 81 years old. His zodiac sign is Pisces. Soon after completing his education at a local school in Moga, Tota Singh went to DM College, Moga to study fine arts.
appearance
Hair color: gray
Eye color: black
family
Parents and siblings
His father’s name was Babu Singh.
wife and children
Tota Singh’s wife’s name is Mukhtiyar Kaur. The couple has four children, three sons and a daughter. His sons Balwinder Singh is the deputy secretary of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), Barjinder Singh Makhan Brar is the SAD leader and Dr. Jaswinder Singh is a dentist in Calgary. His daughter’s name is Dr. Paramjit Kaur Dhillon, a doctor from the UK.
Barjinder Singh Makhan Brar, second son of Tota Singh
Profession
Tota Singh started his political career in 1969 when he was appointed party president in Ferozepur, Faridkot and Moga districts. At that time, Ferozepur district used to be the largest district in Punjab. From 1985 to 1987, Tota Singh served as the Chairman of the Punjab Mandi Committee under the Ministry of Surjit Singh Barnala. He contested the Punjab Legislative Assembly elections from Moga constituency supported by Shiromani Akali Dal and won. During the third term of Badal Ministership, Tota Singh was appointed as Education Minister till 2002. While serving as Punjab Education Minister from 1999 to 2000, Tota Singh made English a compulsory subject in primary schools. Earlier, it was taught from sixth grade onwards. At the same time, he took necessary steps to modernize the education sector in Punjab and was praised for his computer literacy in Punjab government schools. In 2002, Tota Singh again won the Punjab Legislative Assembly elections from Moga constituency on the ticket of Shiromani Akali Dal. Five years later, Tota Singh won the Punjab Legislative Assembly election from Dharamkot constituency in 2012 and soon after his victory, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture and State RI Affairs in the Cabinet Department. He subsequently contested the assembly elections from Dharamkot constituency in 2017, but this time he lost to Indian National Congress candidate Sukhjit Singh, who became the Dharamkot candidate shortly after winning the election. Lancott MLA. In September 2021, Tota Singh contested the Dharamkot constituency elections, while his son Barjinder Singh Brar alias Makan Contested in Moga constituency.
dispute
Illegal hiring of clerks
- Meanwhile, Tota Singh was accused of recruiting 134 staff members in the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) through illegal means; however, the Punjab and Haryana High Court cleared him in the case and ruled in the case was acquitted.
Use of government vehicles for personal use
- In May 2012, the then Punjab Agriculture Minister was found guilty in a Mohali court for using a Punjab School Education Board car for personal use. Tota Singh resigned as a cabinet minister soon after being charged in the legal case and appealed to the Punjab High Court. In its verdict, the High Court sentenced him to one year’s imprisonment and fined him Rs 30,000. Subsequently, the Haryana and Punjab High Courts issued stay notices on the judgment.
Charges against his son Baginder Singh
- In 2012, Tota Singh’s son Barjinder Singh aka Makhan Brar came into the limelight after making headlines in the Moga sex scandal . Barjinder Singh and other senior Punjab Police officials in Moga have been accused of extorting wealthy people in the scandal.
Allegations of supplying fake pesticides
- In 2015, when Jathedar Tota Singh was Punjab’s agriculture minister, whitefly and the spread of fake pesticides destroyed large swathes of Punjab’s cotton crops. Opposition leaders asked him to resign and made the matter public. Blame it on Tota Singh.
literature
Apart from being a politician, Tota Singh also enjoys writing books.He published a book titled “Gatha Purkeyan di” in 2020
assets/property
movable property
- Bank Deposit: Rs. 16,09,525
real estate
- Agricultural land: Rs. 8,75,00,000
- Non-agricultural land: Rs. 6,50,00,000
- Commercial Buildings: Rs. 1,27,50,000
- Residential Building: Rs. 2,50,00,000
Liabilities
- Bank/Financial Institution Loans: Rs. 3,31,70,000
- Any other liability: Rs. 3,00,000
net worth
As of 2012, Tota Singh’s net worth is Rs. 15.84 Crores.
die
On May 21, 2022, Tota Singh passed away in a hospital in Mohali, Punjab, after a long illness. He is undergoing treatment for liver-related disease.
Facts/Trivia
- One of the senior Shiromani Akali Dal leaders in Punjab, Tota Singh had the title of Jatherdar before his name.
- Tota Singh was a trusted leader in the Surjit Singh Barnala government in Punjab. After the collapse of the Barnala government in Punjab, he joined the Shiromani Akali Dal in Badal.
Tota Singh with the then SAD CM Parkash Singh Badal
- Tota Singh was still an undergraduate. When the Thaad government appointed him as the Education Minister of Punjab Province in 1997, the opposition pointed the finger at the Thaad-BJP government.
- Once, SAD party president Sukhbir Singh Badal said in a conversation with a media outlet that Tota Singh was like a father to him.
- At the beginning of his political career, before submitting his nomination papers to contest the Punjab elections, Tota Singh said in a speech that mandatory doping tests must be conducted for all politicians in Punjab. During that time, drug abuse cases reached their peak in Punjab.
- When he was cremated on May 24, 2022, his granddaughter volunteered to attend his last rites. Several media outlets captured Taprit and Japreet supporting his body on their shoulders, arranging wood on the pyre, and placing Samagri for the last rites. His two other granddaughters, Harjus Kaur Dhillon and Jasleen Kaur Brar, also attended his funeral. Japreet Kaur, the youngest daughter of Barjinder Singh Makhan Brar, said in an interview with the media that her grandfather loved his granddaughter more than his son. She told,
No one in our family differentiated between boys and girls. If we had a brother, he would do the same thing. So why can’t we say goodbye to our grandfather the way we want? We don’t think about what society will say or whether anyone will object. To us, he was our Buggy and he always loved us more than any other son in the family. “
In the same conversation, Tota Singh’s son Baginder Singh said he was proud of his daughters, adding that it was their right to attend their grandfather’s funeral. He said,
I am so proud when my daughters tell me they want to participate in these ceremonies and tell them it is their right. Sikhism has always told us about great female warriors like Mai Bagh who fought against the Mughals. If a woman could fight the Mughals, then performing these rituals would be nothing. “
Japreet Kaur on her grandfather’s final journey
Japreet Kaur during her grandfather’s last rites
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education