Harsimrat Kaur Badal

Personal life

Badal was born on 25 July 1966 to Satyajit Singh Majithia and Sukhmanjus Majithia in Delhi. She did her schooling from Loreto Convent School, Delhi. She is a matriculate and holds a diploma in textile design. She married Sukhbir Singh Badal on 21 November 1991. The couple have two daughters and a son. Her brother Bikram Singh Majithia is a member of Shiromani Akali Dal, a former MLA from Majitha and an ex-minister in the Punjab state government led by her father-in-law Parkash Singh Badal.

Career

Politics

Badal started her political career with the 2009 Indian general election. She was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from the Bathinda constituency after defeating Indian National Congress candidate Raninder Singh by 120,960 votes. Badal has been re-elected as an MP from Bathinda in 2014 having defeated Indian National Congress-People's Party of Punjab joint candidate, Manpreet Singh Badal. For this, she was appointed in the Modi government as State Minister for Food Processing. She got elected for 3rd time in a row from Bathinda in 2019 Lok Sabha election. She defeated the Congress candidate Amrinder Singh Raja Warring in a close fight with around 21,000 votes.

In May 2019, she continued her Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

She resigned from the cabinet on 17 September 2020 to protest against the new farm bills passed by the government.

In 2024 Lok Sabha election, Badal won for the 4th time from Bathinda, securing 376,558 votes, defeating Gurmeet Singh Khuddian of Aam Aadmi Party in the process.

Business

Badal and her family have direct or indirect interests in many businesses. Members of the Badal family, including Harsimrat's father-in-law and husband have ownership interests in Orbit Resorts, Metro Eco Green Resorts, Saanjh Foundation, Falcon Properties, Dabwali Transport and Orbit Aviation. Her maternal family controls Saraya Industries, Ajnala Power, and Batala Power. Her husband holds a majority stake in the Punjabi language PTC television network.

Social work

In September 2008, Kaur started the "Nanhi Chhan" project to combat against female foeticide in Punjab, promote women empowerment and to save the trees. It operates in schools, colleges, gurudwaras, temples, churches, and municipal centers. Through this project many girls and women in Punjab villages have been trained in cloth sewing, knitting and flowering.

References

References

1. (26 May 2014). "Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal sworn in as food processing minister". [[Hindustan Times]].
2. "[http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/archiveofge2009/Stats/VOLI/25_ConstituencyWiseDetailedResult.pdf Constituency Wise Detailed Results (2009)] {{Webarchive. link. (2 August 2013 ." [[Election Commission of India). Electoral Commission of India]], 2009. Page 112. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
3. (14 May 2019). "Politically Famous Better Halves: Sonia Gandhi, Poonam Sinha & Dimple Yadav". [[The Economic Times]].
4. "Harsimrat Kaur Badal{{!}} National Portal of India".
5. "Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal takes charge as Union Minister of Food Processing Industries".
6. Layak, Suman. (10 July 2016). "Cabinet reshuffle: Modi government's got talent but is it being fully utilised?". [[The Economic Times]].
7. "Badal, Smt. Harsimrat Kaur".
8. (9 March 2009). "Harsimrat Badal launches fifth phase of Nanhi Jaan project". Punjab Newsline.
9. (31 May 2019). "PM Modi allocates portfolios. Full list of new ministers". Mint.
10. (18 September 2020). "Harsimrat Kaur Badal quits Modi govt to protest farm bills". The Times of India.
11. "Bathinda lok sabha election results 2024: Bathinda Winning Candidates List and Vote Share". India Today.
12. "General Election to Parliamentary Constituencies: Trends & Results June-2024 Parliamentary Constituency 11 - Bathinda (Punjab)".
13. (6 June 2024). "Bullish Wins & Bearish Losses: Here are the key contests and results of 2024 Lok Sabha polls". Economic Times.
14. Rajshekhar, M.. (29 March 2016). "Almost every business in Punjab leads back to an Akali Dal leader". [[Quartz (publication).
15. Malik, Aman. (13 May 2014). "The business interests of Harsimrat Kaur Badal". Mint.
16. Vasudeva, Ravinder. (3 February 2016). "Honcho of Badal-owned PTC 'steers' Punjab PR dept's meet with NRI media". Hindustan Times.
17. Kirpal, Raman. (20 January 2012). "Not on TRP radar, yet govt ad windfall for Badal family channel". Firstpost.
18. (16 September 2019). "Harsimrat marks 11th anniv of 'Nanhi Chhaan'". Tribune India.