On Wednesday Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) party office in Chandigarh with the intent to pay his last tribute to Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal. The politician took his last breath at the age of 95 after being admitted to a hospital in Mohali a week back. 

PM Modi took to Twitter to express his condolences. He said, “The demise of Parkash Singh Badal is nothing less than a personal loss for me. I have closely interacted with him for many decades and gained so much knowledge from him.” He recalled a number of meetings with Prakash Singh Badal ‘in which his wisdom was always seen,’ He referred to Badal as a ‘remarkable statesman who contributed greatly to the nation and worked tirelessly for Punjab’s progress.”

As a gesture of respect for the veteran politician, the Centre has declared a two-day mourning across India. According to a government statement, the national flag will be flown at half-mast on all the buildings where it is normally flown, and there will be no official entertainment on these two days. The five-time chief minister gained the light in the political world after working as a village sarpanch and then in the year 1957 he contested in the assembly elections for the first time.

It was only recently when Badal’s party broke ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) due to the farmer’s protest in the year 2020. He returned his Padma Vibhushan award- the second highest civilian honour in the country as well in order to protest against the government’s mistreatment of farmers. 

The veteran political leader complained of difficulty in breathing and was thus taken to Fortis Hospital in Mohali a week ago. Fortis Hospital Mohali said in a statement that S Parkash Singh Badal left us due to his illness even though he had received proper medication. They further added that the death of S Parkash Singh Badal is deeply mourned.