Vijay Inder Singla (born 1 December 1971) is an Indian politician from Punjab. He is former member of Punjab Legislative Assembly. He is a member of Indian National Congress.

Vijay Inder Singla
Vijay Inder Singla
Minister of PWD & Administrative Reforms
Government of Punjab, India
In office
2018–2022
Preceded byS Janmeja Singh Sekhon
Member of Parliament, 15th Lok Sabha
In office
2009–2014
Preceded bySukhdev Singh Dhindsa
Succeeded byBhagwant Mann
ConstituencySangrur
Member of Punjab Legislative Assembly
In office
2017 - 2022
Preceded byParkash Chand Garg
Succeeded byNarinder Kaur Bharaj
ConstituencySangrur
Personal details
Born (1971-12-01) 1 December 1971 (age 52)
Ludhiana, Punjab, India
Political partyIndian National Congress
SpouseSmt. Deepa Singla
Children1 son and 1 daughter
ParentSant Ram Singla
ResidenceNew Delhi, India
Alma materB.M.S. Institute of Technology and Management
[1]

He is a former minister in the current council of ministers of Punjab government and heads the Public Works Department and Administrative Reforms. He was a Congress [Member of Parliament] from Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency in Punjab from 2009 to 2014. In 2014, he lost Lok Sabha election from Sangrur to Bhagwant Mann with a margin of 3,51,827 votes. In 2017, he won Sangrur constituency with margin of 30000 votes. In 2022, he lost to Narinder Kaur Bharaj of AAP, with margin of 36,430 votes. His father Sant Ram Singla was also Congress MP, and was Minister in first term of Captain Amarinder Singh Government in Punjab. Recently, he has been given key profile in AICC, as a Secretary, AICC to the AICC Treasurer. Earlier, he has been national spokesperson of Congress.

Early life and education

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Vijay Inder Singla did his matriculation from Yadavindra Public School, Patiala in 1987 and intermediate from Multani Mal Modi College, Patiala in 1989.[2] He has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in (Computer Science) from B.M.S. College of Engineering, Bangalore, Karnataka.[3]

Political career

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Youth Politics

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His political career began with Punjab Youth Congress as general secretary from 2002 - 2004 and vice-president later. On his father's death he was appointed chairman of Punjab Energy Development Authority in 2005 by the Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh.[4] He was President of Punjab Youth Congress from 2006 to 2008 and was assigned the task of conducting the first Youth Congress elections in Punjab as a pilot project which was thereafter replicated throughout India. He was made Member of Indian Youth Congress Election Commission (2010-2012) which was responsible for conducting Youth Congress elections in India to identify fresh grassroot talent, known to be a close confidant of Rahul Gandhi brigade.

Parliament

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In 2009 he was elected to Lok Sabha from Sangrur Lok Sabha by defeating Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa from Shiromani Akali Dal by a margin of more than 40000 votes. Vijay Inder Singla in his first term as MP is credited with bringing major development projects to this backward region including a 300-bed PGI Sangrur Hospital with an outlay of Rs 449 crore which will change the profile of the constituency with specialized medical treatment, more jobs and better business opportunities. The project has been delayed and heavily criticized by the opposition SAD. Moreover, his efforts in providing greater rail and road connectivity are appreciable like starting of Shatabdi Express from Sangrur, Panj Takht Yatra train, new trains to Sirsa, Ajmer, Jammu etc., rail track electrification and railway overbridges to ease traffic congestion. Although, these trains were one time affair, people still are happy with his efforts. He brought projects in the Sports field like Synthetic Athletic Track at Sangrur and SAI sports coaching centre at Barnala, undertook extensive rural development works from MPLAD fund in the fields of education, health, community development, sports and public utilities.[5] He represented India at the 64th session of UN General Assembly in New York City in November 2013 and spoke on Palestine refugee issue.[6][7] He is a Member of Indian Council of World Affairs, National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, Institute & Governing Body of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (Chandigarh), Regional Direct Taxes Advisory Committee, Patiala (Punjab) and Chairman of Regional Consultative Committee on Food Corporation of India (Punjab) and has been pursuing the cause of stakeholders through these forums and bodies.

In 2014 he lost Lok Sabha election from Sangrur constituency. Bhagwant Mann defeated him with a hefty margin of 3,51,827 votes.

Electoral performance

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Parliament: Lok Sabha

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General Election 2014: Sangrur
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
AAP Bhagwant Mann 533,237 48.47  48.47
SAD Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa 3,21,516 29.23  4.90
INC Vijay Inder Singla 1,81,410 17.50  21.02
BSP Madan Bhatti 8,408 0.76
CPI Sukhdev Ram Sharma 6,934 0.63
Majority 2,11,721 19.24  14.85
Turnout 1,100,056 77.21
AAP gain from INC Swing  34.75

Punjab Assembly

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Punjab Assembly election, 2017: Sangrur[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
INC Vijay Inder Singla 67,310 47.4% +8.52
AAP Dinesh Bansal 36,498 25.7% New
SAD Parkash Chand Garg 34,510 24.3% −18.29
NOTA None of the above 768 0.54%
Majority 30,812
Turnout 142,781 80.61% +0.25
Registered electors [9]
INC gain from SAD Swing +8.52
Punjab Assembly election, 2022: Sangrur[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
AAP Narinder Kaur Bharaj[11] 74,851 51.67 +25.97
INC Vijay Inder Singla[12] 38,421 26.52 −20.88
BJP Arvind Khanna 13,766 9.5 +9.5
SAD Winnerjit Singh Goldy 10,488 7.24 −17.06
SAD(A) Gurnaib Singh 4,466 3.08 −1.77
SSP Jagdeep Singh Mintu Toor 1,209 0.83 New
Majority 36,430 25.15
Turnout 144,873 76.31 −4.3
Registered electors 189,838 [13]
AAP gain from INC

References

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  1. ^ Fifteenth Lok Sabha Members Bioprofile [dead link]
  2. ^ "Vijay Inder Singla". Archived from the original on 1 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Vijay Inder Singla | National Portal of India". Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  4. ^ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Punjab".
  5. ^ "Having done his job well, he now banks on voters' trust". tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  6. ^ Statement by Vijay Inder Singla (PDF). papersmart.unmeetings.org. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  7. ^ Statement by Mr. Vijay Inder Singla, Member of Parliament and Member of Indian Delegation on Agenda Item 51 - "United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)" at the Fourth Committee of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on November 7, 2013 (PDF). un.int. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  8. ^ Election Commission of India. "Punjab General Legislative Election 2017". Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  9. ^ Chief Electoral Officer - Punjab. "Electors and Polling Stations - VS 2017" (PDF). Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Punjab-Sangrur: Election Commission of India". results.eci.gov.in. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Punjab Elections 2022: Full list of Aam Aadmi Party candidates and their constituencies". The Financial Express. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Punjab Elections 2022: Full list of Congress Candidates and their Constituencies". FE Online. No. The Financial Express (India). The Indian Express Group. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Punjab General Legislative Election 2022". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
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