Leader
Parkash Singh Badal
ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼ ਸਿੰਘ ਬਾਦਲپرکاش سنگھ بادل
Five times Chief Minister of Punjab, both the youngest and the oldest, and for half a century the face of the Akali Dal.
Badal was born at Abul Khurana near Malout and became sarpanch of his village, Badal, in 1947. He entered the Punjab assembly in 1957 and in 1970, at 42, became the youngest Chief Minister any Indian state had had.
He led Punjab again in 1977, 1997, 2007 and 2012, the last time at 84. His Akali Dal governed in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, built roads, canals and power plants, and was accused by its critics of tying the Panth's institutions to one family. He spent years in jail during the Emergency and the Dharam Yudh Morcha.
He died in 2023, aged 95, and was cremated in his village of Badal.