>Jaywardhan009 at 13:00, 9 July 2021

2021-07-09T13:00:13Z

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{{short description|Indian politician}}
{{more citations|date=October 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Gopal Singh Khalsa
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = 1903
| birth_place =
| residence =
| death_date = not known
| death_place =
| office = [[List of leaders of the opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly|Leader of opposition in Punjab assembly]]
| term_start = 17 April 1952
| term_end = 1 November 1956
| predecessor = '''First holder'''
| successor = [[Gurnam Singh]]
| constituency = [[Jagraon Assembly Constituency|Jagraon]]
| office1 = '''Member of [[Punjab Legislative Assembly]]'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.elections.in/punjab/assembly-constituencies/jagraon.html|title=Jagraon Election and Results 2018, Candidate list, Winner, Runner-up, Current MLA and Previous MLAs|website=elections.in|accessdate=7 December 2019}}</ref>
| term_start1 = 1952
| term_end1 = 1957
| successor1 = [[Har Prakash Kaur]]
|predecessor1 = '''Post Established'''
| party = [[Scheduled Castes Federation]] (1947-1952), [[Shiromani Akali Dal]] (1952-1956), [[Indian National Congress]] (1956-till his death)
| spouse = Basant Kaur
| children = [[Harinder Singh Khalsa]]
| parents =
| constituency1= [[Jagraon Assembly Constituency|Jagraon]]
| office2 = Member of [[Punjab Province (British India)#First Assembly Election|Punjab Provincial Assembly]]<ref>page xx of ''[http://www.punjabassembly.nic.in/images/docs/compendium_doc.pdf Punjab Vidhan Sabha Compendium]''. [[Punjab Legislative Assembly]]. Retrieved on 23 July 2019.</ref>
|term_start2 = 1937
|term_end2 = 1946
|constituency2 = Ludhiana
}}
'''Gopal Singh Khalsa''' ([[Order of the British Empire|O.B.E]]) was an Indian freedom fighter and politician.<ref>III Religion and Caste in Punjab (pdf). Gopal Singh Khalsa (page 1268)</ref>

==Life==
Khalsa, was born in 1903 into [[Ramdasia]] Sikh [[ Chamar]] family at a village around [[Sidhwan Bet]] area.{{cn|date=October 2020}}

He did his schooling from Malwa Khalsa High School (Ludhiana) and B.A from Panjab University. Khalsa went to the [[United States]] in 1923 and spent three years there and did LLB from the [[San Joaquin Delta College]], [[Stockton, California|Stockton]] (California).{{cn|date=October 2020}}

He also received [[Order of the British Empire]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=15 December 1984|first=Shekhar|last=Gupta|title=I believe in the unity of the Sikhs: Harinder Singh|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/investigation/story/19841215-i-believe-in-unity-of-sikhs-harinder-singh-803553-1984-12-15|access-date=25 October 2020|work=India Today|language=en}}</ref>

==Political career==
===Before Independence===
Later, joined the Hindustan National Party and finally returned to India in 1931. After his return, he took keen interest in the welfare of the Dalits and joined the [[Republican Party of India#Scheduled Castes Federation|All India Scheduled Castes Federation]] of [[B. R. Ambedkar]].

He was a member of the S. C. F. Working Committee and a close associate of Dr Ambedkar from 1937 to 1946. In 1937, he was elected as an independent candidate for the Punjab Provincial Assembly. He was then appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Punjab Premier, [[Sikandar Hayat Khan (Punjabi politician)|Sikandar Hayat Khan]].

From 1937 to 1946 he was also a nominated member of the District Board of Ludhiana, After the second world war in 1946, he was appointed as an officer in the Labour Department of the Government of India.

===After Independence===
In 1952 he joined the [[Akali Dal]], ran on its ticket for the 1952,<ref>page xxx of ''[http://www.punjabassembly.nic.in/images/docs/compendium_doc.pdf Punjab Vidhan Sabha Compendium]''. [[Punjab Legislative Assembly]]. Retrieved on 23 July 2019.</ref> and became the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly.

He had during his political career edited a couple of magazines and papers, and from 1952 to 1954 was Chief Editor of the Daily Prabhat, the Urdu spokesman of the Akali Dal.

In 1956 as a result of the merger of the Akali Dal with the [[Indian National Congress]], he joined the latter organization. He played a prominent role in the organization of the Malwa Akali Dal to oppose Master [[Tara Singh (activist)|Tara Singh]] and his Akali Dal in the 1959 elections to the [[Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Opposition in Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Shiromani Akali Dal politicians]]

{{PunjabIN-INC-politician-stub}}

Gopal Singh Khalsa - Revision history

>Jaywardhan009 at 13:00, 9 July 2021