ABOUT THE NEW SPEAKER

Born in Jhandian village in Rupnagar in 1957, Rana Kanwarpal Singh did his schooling in neighbouring Bharatgarh before moving to Dehradun to study law. He practised law in Rupnagar courts for 21 years After becoming the sarpanch of his village, he was elevated to the position of the Youth Congress district president. Later, he became the general secretary of its Punjab unit before becoming a member the All India Congress Committee Popularly known as Rana KP in political circles, he was first elected to the assembly from Anandpur Sahib in 2002. He remained the Punjab Pollution Control Board chairman and chief parliamentary secretary in the Capt Amarinder Singh government from 2002-07 Re-elected in 2007, Rana KP lost the polls in 2012. After entering the assembly again from Anandpur Sahib this month, he was handpicked by Amarinder to take over as the speaker