Former Cabinet minister Surjit Kohli passes away

PATIALA: Former Cabinet minister Surjit Singh Kohli, 73, who served as a minister during the SAD-BJP's 1997 term, breathed his last on Thursday morning following an extended period of illness.

Surjit's elder son Ajitpal Singh Kohli is the current MLA of AAP from Patiala (Urban), while his younger son Gurjit Singh Kohli is a prominent BJP leader.

Surjit is survived by his wife Ranjit Kaur, two sons, and a daughter Simran Kaur. The cremation is scheduled to take place on Saturday as the family awaits the arrival of relatives from abroad.

Surjit, who commenced his political career as a councilor, emerged victorious in the assembly election and assumed the role of minister for printing and stationery in 1997. However, he faced defeat in the subsequent three assembly elections, following which he was denied the SAD ticket for the Patiala by-election of 2014.

This by-election was necessitated by Captain Amarinder's resignation, who vacated the seat after securing victory as a Congress MP from the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 general elections. SAD had then bestowed the ticket upon Bhagwan Dass Juneja, but he was defeated by Amarinder's wife and former union minister Preneet Kaur. Surjit's father, the late Sardara Singh Kohli, had served as the Punjab education minister in the SAD-Janata party coalition government of 1977.

Surjit's son Ajitpal Kohli had held the position of city mayor from 2007 to 2012 and parted ways with SAD (B) to join AAP in January 2022, just before the assembly elections. He emerged triumphant in the Patiala seat, defeating former CM Captain Amarinder Singh, who was then the joint candidate of PLC – BJP, by a margin of 20,000 votes. Meanwhile, the then SAD (B) candidate Harpal Juneja (now in AAP) and Congress's Vishnu Sharma also suffered resounding defeats.


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