Ujjal Singh

Governor Ujjal Singh (27 December 1895 – 15 February 1983) was an Indian politician who was a participant in the First Round Table Conference, opened officially by King George V on 12 November 1930. Ujjal Singh served as the Finance Minister of Punjab, Governor of Punjab, and as Governor of Tamil Nadu . Prior to this he was one of Pre-Partition Punjab's largest landowners, owning thousands of acres in Hadali, Jaranwala, Mian Channu, Lyallpur, Montgomery, Sargodha and other areas.

Early life and family He was the younger of the two sons of Sujan Singh and Lakshmi Devi, Sujan Singh was a famous agriculturalist in Punjab. He lived in his house in Mian Channu known currently as Haveli Ujjal Singh near his father's house, now a railway station, known as Kot Sujan Singh. He was first introduced to politics, specifically Sikh politics, by his cousin Sardar Bahadur Mehtab Singh. He was elected to the Punjab Legislative Council in (1926–36) and continued serving till 1956. He also served as the secretary of the Khalsa National Party, which was created by Sir Jogendra Singh in 1935 where he worked in Sikh political and religious affairs and became a member of the first Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. His actions were well received by the Sikh spheres- by the time he became famous his cousin Mehtab Singh became the President of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Deputy President of Punjab Legislative Council.

He supported Jathedar Akali Baba Chet Singh Nihang's crusade for allowing the Akali-Nihangs to keep spears and full-length swords with themselves at all times. He resigned in protest to the British not freeing Akali prisoners during the Gurdwara Reform Movement. He was a part of the Sikh Council of Action set up with Dictator Niranjan Singh Gill of the Azad Hind Fauj. He stayed with his brother, Sir Sobha Singh, for a few months and then later bought a home for himself in Mashobra, Himachal Pradesh and lived there for a very long time. He also received land in compensation in Karkarduma and Said up-Ajaib, Delhi along with an orchard lane in Panipat and he bought a third of a house in Curzon Road, in New Delhi with the other two-thirds belonging to Sardar Bahadur Mohan Singh of Rawalpindi.

He was also the Director and Chairman of the Punjab & Sind Bank from 1947 to 1960.

Death Ujjal Singh died at his New Delhi residence on 15 February 1983. Offices, corporations, boards and educational institutions of the Punjab Government were closed as a mark of respect. The Punjab Vidhan Sabha observed a 2 minute silence at the start of its budget session. The Tamil Nadu Legislative Council adjourned half-an-hour at Madras as a mark of respect to his memory. He was the founder of Guru Nanak Public School, Chandigarh, where he served as Founder President.

He had two wives, and four children- one was Narinder Singh, who passed away at a young age- Narinder Singh Place in Connaught Place (now owned by DLF) was named in his memory by Sir Sobha Singh. He had three daughters, two twins, one daughter was named Kushal Kaur who married into the Sardar Bahadur Dharam Singh Sethi family.

Many buildings are named after him in Mian Channu, these include;

Ujjal Singh Haveli, Mian Channu, Pakistan Ujjal Singh Building 1, Mian Channu, Pakistan Ujjal Singh Building 2, Mian Channu, Pakistan Ujjal Singh Building 3, Mian Channu, Pakistan

The sites he contracted include:

Qasr-e-Latif, Mian Channu, Pakistan New Khalsa Factory, Jaranwala, Pakistan Inder Cotton Factory, Bhalwal, Pakistan Inder Cotton Factory, Sargodha, Pakistan