Veteran Akali leader Kuldeep Wadala dies of cardiac arrest
JALANDHAR: Veteran Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Nakodar MLA Kuldeep Singh Wadala died of cardiac arrest at his residence in Wadala village here on Tuesday. He was 86.
Wadala, who was presently serving as a member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) from Nakodar was elected as an MLA on an Akali Dal ticket from Nakodar in 1985. He had been seeking safe corridor from Dera Baba Nanak to Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwala in Pakistan for the past over 18 years.
Wadala is survived by four sons and three daughters. While two of his sons — Agyakar Singh and Tajinder Singh — are settled in abroad, his third son Gurpartap Singh Wadala is an MLA from Nakodar constituency. Jagdeep Singh, the youngest son, said his father was fine and was taking rest after having a breakfast. “I found him unconscious when I went to his room at 11am. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him dead,” Jagdeep said.
Wadala contested his first election in 1980 from the Nakodar assembly segment and was defeated by the then chief minister Darbara Singh. In the 1985 assembly polls, Wadala defeated his cousin and Congress leader Umrao Singh.
In 1997, Wadala left the Shiromani Akali Dal after differences with Parkash Singh Badal and formed his own party SAD (Democratic) and unsuccessfully contested as an independent from Nakodar. In 2006, he rejoined the Akali Dal and contested the 2007 elections but lost to Congress’ Amarjit Singh Samra.
“My father had been fighting for the corridor to Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan so that devotees
WADALA HAD BEEN DEMANDING A SPECIAL CORRIDOR FROM DERA BABA NANAK TO KARTARPUR SAHIB GURDWARA IN PUNJAB PROVINCE OF PAKISTAN
can get hassle-free passage to the shrine,” Jagdeep said.
He said they are waiting for the other family members to arrive from abroad and the cremation will take place on Wednesday or Thursday.
CM MOURNS DEATH
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh mourned Wadala’s death. In his condolence message, the chief minister said Wadala was a seasoned politician, who made relentless efforts for the opening of a special corridor from Dera Baba Nanak to Kartarpur Sahib, the birth place of first Sikh master Guru Nanak .
The chief minister expressed his “heartfelt condolences” to the bereaved family on their loss.