Jagdev Singh Talwandi

Jagdev Singh Talwandi (24 June 1929 – 19 September 2014) was an Indian politician. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1978 as a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), a Sikh-centered regional political party. Talwandi was elected SAD president in 1978 and 1988. He became the President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in 2000. He was elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha thrice in 1967, 1969, and 1972, and was inducted as a Minister of State for Development and Animal Husbandry in the Gurnam Singh Ministry and the Minister of State for Jails, Sports and Transport in the Parkash Singh Badal government. He represented Punjab in the Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1986.

Political career After independence, Chhanga Singh settled at Talwandi village in Ludhiana district, and was unanimously elected the sarpanch in 1955 for a decade. He earned the title of for his role in early years of Akali politics followed by arrests in all Punjabi Suba morchas, along with his brother Master Dev Raj Singh. He was arrested on 9 July 1975 for being a part of the first jatha against the Emergency and spent 19 months in jail.

In 1960 and 1965 he was chosen as a member of the SGPC. He was elected thrice to become a member of the Punjab Assembly in 1967, 1969, and 1972, and was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977. He was inducted as the Minister of State for Development and Animal Husbandry in the Gurnam Singh Ministry, and was also unanimously elected Leader of the Akali Legislature Party in 1967. He was the Minister of State for Jails, Sports and Transport in the Parkash Singh Badal Ministry.

As the emergency was lifted by Gandhi in January 1977, all the political leaders opposed to Indira Gandhi were released and there was a discussion to merge political parties to form one political party in the Centre. The Janata Party was created as a result. On Mr. Mohan Singh Tur's indisposition in April 1977, Jathedar Talwandi was appointed Acting President of the Akali Dal. As a member of the Dal Parliamentary Board and chief of the party, he helped it win 58 out of 116 Punjab Assembly seats. He declared that the Akali Dal would cooperate with the newly formed Janata Party but would not merge with it and would remain its separate entity.

Tohra reconciled with Badal and a complaint against Talwandi was made to the Akal Takhat and he was summoned by the Jathedar Akal Takhat who declared he wasn't "tankhwaya". In 1980 Talwandi parted ways with Badal and formed his own party, Akali Dal – Jagdev Singh Talwandi Group. Meanwhile, Gandhi returned to power and she dismissed the Badal Government.

Talwandi led a jatha to Delhi where he was detained in Tihar Jail for more than 18 months. He was released on appeal from the Akal Takhat and Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, dictator of Dharam Yudh Morcha. Talwandi was willingly arrested in Dharam Yudh Morcha along with one thousand followers at Ludhiana. He was detained at Ludhiana jail with Badal.

Talwandi became the president of the SGPC in 2001.

Personal life He married Mohinder Kaur and has two sons and two daughters. His younger son Jagjit Singh Talwandi became SGPC member and his elder son is Ranjit Singh Talwandi, an Akali Dal leader, who was elected as a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Punjab in 2002. His daughter Harjit Kaur Talwandi is serving as the President of the Women's Wing of Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) in 2022.

He has authored a book titled Mool Manter Swami Ram Tirath. He played an active role in the telecast of the Gurbani program via the ETC Channel.

Death Talwandi was admitted to the Hero DMC Heart Institute due to multiple infections in the heart, kidney, and stomach. Vishwa Mohan had treated his condition critical on 6 September. News of his death spread on the morning of 19 September at seven o'clock. However, the doctors later maintained that his heart was beating and could not be declared clinically dead. He was pronounced dead by the Institute’s chief cardiologist, Gurpreet Singh Wander, DMCH medical superintendent Rajoo Chinna, and the Ludhiana civil surgeon at 11.10 am on 21 August 2014. He was 85 years old.

Legacy In September 2016, Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, while attending Talwandi's second Barsi Samagam (death anniversary), laid the foundation stone of the "Jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi College of Professional Studies" at Bassian Kothi, near Ludhiana.

In March 2020, the SGPC installed a portrait of Talwandi in the Central Sikh Museum in Punjab.

Electoral performance 1977