The Tarn Taran Diary: The price Major Singh paid Politically, ubboke dear

Senior SAD politician Major Singh Ubboke made two political blunders that cost him dearly in his political career. In the Vidhan Sabha in 1980 and 1984, Major Singh Ubboke represented the assembly seat of Valtoha (now Khemkaran). In the Surjit Singh Barnala cabinet, he served as Minister for Revenue. In 1996, he was elected on a SAD ticket to the Lok Sabha, representing Tarn Taran (now Khadoor Sahib).

He narrowly beat the Congress candidate in the 1996 elections, Surinder Singh Kairon, the father-in-law (husband’s father) of the daughter of SAD leader Parkash Singh Badal. In 1996, as the SAD was organizing for the 1997 Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections, Parkash Singh Badal was attempting to get his son-in-law, Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, involved in politics by forcing him to join the party from Patti, his home seat. With an eye on the elections, the area’s traditional old SAD leaders rejected the party’s approach.

Adesh Partap Singh Kairon is the grandson of former Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon, who is accused of committing atrocities against opposition SAD politicians. These leaders organized a conference to reject Kairon’s admittance into the SAD due to the family’s Congress past.

Attending the meeting, Major Singh Ubboke voiced his opposition to the SAD leadership’s change. Meanwhile, the SAD began selecting its candidates for the legislative elections, which were necessary after the collapse of the Atal Behari Vajpayee cabinet and the subsequent need for Lok Sabha elections. Major Singh Ubboke had a feeling he would not get the party ticket for whatever reason.

He once traveled to Chandigarh to meet with Parkash Singh Badal, the Chief Minister and President of the SAD, in order to submit his candidacy for the Tarn Taran seat. Ubboke presented Badal with his prison credentials, which included Punjabi Suba, for serving the state’s interests. He informed Badal that he had spent more time in jail—seven times more than Badal himself had spent there. In response to his allegation of imprisonment, Badal joked that Ubboke was’senior’ to him as well. Major Singh Ubboke did not get the party ticket for the 1998 elections; instead, Prem Singh Lalpura, the SAD MLA from Tarn Taran at the time, was nominated.

It is evident that no one who opposed Parkash Singh Badal’s dominance was spared. Major Singh Ubboke demonstrated his loyalty to Badal by attending the gathering of dissident SAD workers and leaders to prevent Adesh Partap Singh Kairon from joining SAD and voicing his claim that he had been incarcerated more times than Badal. The political shock was so great that Major Singh Ubboke, then 69 years old, stopped participating in active politics until his death on November 3, 2020.

PSEB Class V Topper aspires to be an officer in the Army.

In the Punjab School Education Board’s (PSEB) annual exams for Class V, Ekamdeep Singh received 490 (or 95% of the possible 500) marks. His accomplishments garnered honors from the government, schools and his family. He placed first in the Chohla Sahib block and was honored during a recent celebration of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birth anniversary held at the focal point in Tarn Taran. Sarwan Singh, the father of Ekamdeep Singh, is a daily wagerer and lives in Brahampur village. His mother is a housewife and looks after the family’s goats, as is customary. The family is from the lower caste of the Scheduled Caste society, the Sansi caste.

The village has a single family that is a part of the community. After completing his studies in Class V at Government Elementary School in Brahampur, Ekamdeep was accepted into Government Girls Senior Secondary School in Brahampur for Class VI (boys are only allowed to enroll in classes up to X). The performance of Ekamdeep Singh has brought honor to government schools, according to Sushil Kumar Tulli, District Education Officer (Secondary), who also oversees the Elementary Education Department in the district. Parents may consider enrolling their children in government schools after seeing Ekamdeep in action.

Parents are beginning to believe that enhanced management has raised the quality of instruction at government institutions. Ekamdeep Singh aspires to be an officer in the Army and has great goals. For children, Ekamdeep is now a role model. In his free time, he would much rather go graze goats than use a cell phone. (given by Gurbaxpuri)