Harinder Singh Khalsa

Early life

Harinder Singh Khalsa was born in 1947, in Ludhiana, British India. His father Gopal Singh Khalsa belongs to Ramdasia Sikh who was an Akali Dal politician and served as the Chief Parliament Secretary of Punjab assembly in 1937, and was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1952, serving as the leader of opposition. Harinder Singh obtained an M.A. (English) degree from the Government College, Ludhiana. He married Satwant Kaur on 8 February 1976. The couple has three sons.

Pre-political career

Harinder Singh Khalsa started his career as an English lecturer at the G.G.N. Khalsa College, in Ludhiana. During his academic career (1964-1974), he published two textbooks: A Manual of General English and Social Science. In May 1974, he joined the Punjab Civil Service. In July 1974, he joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and worked as a Second Secretary in Jakarta. Later, he served as a First Secretary in Bangkok and Norway.

During 1990-91, he served as the Chairman of Punjab Human Rights Organization, an NGO that highlighted the excesses committed by the state government during the anti-insurgency operations. During 1991-03, he served as a secretary of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC).

Shiromani Akali Dal

Harinder Singh joined Shiromani Akali Dal, and was elected as an MP from Bathinda in 1996, winning by a margin of 92,229 votes.

Aam Aadmi Party

In 2014, Harinder Singh joined the Aam Aadmi Party, and contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Fatehgarh Sahib. He won by a margin of 54,144 votes.

Bharatiya Janata Party On 28 March 2019 he joined Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Arun Jaitley.