Ex-Punjab Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon passes away; Amarinder & more leaders express grief

Former Punjab Assembly Speaker and senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Nirmal Singh Kahlon passed away at the age of 79 on Saturday. The senior Akali Dal leader, who recently underwent treatment at a private hospital in Amritsar, passed away due to prolonged illness as he was not keeping well for the past few days. 

Tweeting regarding the same, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal expressed grief over the sad demise of the veteran party leader and further extended his condolences to the Kahlon family. "Deeply saddened to learn about the demise of senior Akali leader & former Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker S Nirmal Singh Ji Kahlon. Kahlon Sahab was a source of inspiration for all of us. His wise counsel will always be missed. I stand with the Kahlon family in this hour of grief", he tweeted. 

In addition to that, senior Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema also took to his Twitter handle and said that the last rites of Kahlon will be performed at the Dadujodh village near Fatehgarh Churi in the Gurdaspur district on July 17, Sunday. 

"Former Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon, who was ill for some time, passed away today. May God grant peace to the departed soul and strength to the family. His last rites will be held at village Dadujodh, near Fatehgarh Churi, district Gurdaspur, tomorrow, Sunday, July 17, at 11 am", he tweeted. 

Condolences continue to pour in after the demise of the SAD leader 

As soon as the news of Kahlon's demise came out, condolences from several political leaders as well as ministers started pouring in. Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh took to Twitter to extend his condolences to the family of Nirmal Singh.

Following that, Punjab Congress President Amrinder Singh Raja Warring also expressed grief over the demise of the SAD leader. 

Notably, Kahlon served as the Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats during the Akali government from 1997 to 2002. He also served as the speaker of Punjab Vidhan Sabha from 2007 to 2012.

Image: Twitter/@CaptainAmarinderSingh