CHANDIGARH: Former Punjab minister Bhagat Chunni Lal died at his home in Jalandhar on Thursday, his son and state cabinet minister Mohinder Bhagat said. He was 93.“Chunni Lal Bhagat ji is no longer with us. We are deeply saddened by his demise,” Mohinder Bhagat, who is the horticulture minister in the AAP government, said.His cremation will be held in Jalandhar at 5 pm on Thursday. The Punjab government has declared a half-day holiday in view of his death.Chunni Lal was a cabinet minister in the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government led by Parkash Singh Badal in 2012. He held the portfolios of local government and medical education and research.Born in Sialkot, now in Pakistan, on December 1, 1932, Chunni Lal’s family settled in Jalandhar after Partition.He contested his first election as an Independent from Jalandhar South in 1985 but lost. He won from the same constituency on a BJP ticket in 1997 and was re-elected in 2007 and 2012. Following delimitation, he contested from Jalandhar West in 2012.Chunni Lal also served as deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly in 2011.His son Mohinder Bhagat joined the AAP in April 2023 after quitting the BJP.(With PTI inputs)
