New Delhi: A two-time Parliamentarian and a member of a family that traces its lineage to 18th century royalty, Harsimrat Kaur Badal reserved a berth in Narendra Modi’s 2.0 Cabinet Thursday.
A member of Shiromani Akali Dal, her husband Sukhbir Singh Badal was the deputy chief minister of Punjab and the president of Shiromani Akali Dal.
The 2019 election season has been the toughest yet for the Akali leader, with a decade-long anti-incumbency sentiment threatening the slim lead over her rivals.
Kaur started her political stint during the 2009 general elections when she was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from the Bathinda constituency after defeating Congress candidate Raninder Singh.
She retained the seat in 2014, with a dramatically reduced majority. Following her re-election Ms Kaur was made the Union Minister for Food Processing Industries and had to deal with the Maggi noodles controversy of 2015.
She was part of a project named “Nanhi Chhan” to save the girl child and trees. She has been re-elected as an MP from Bathinda in 2014 having defeated the Congress-People’s Party of Punjab joint candidate, Manpreet Singh Badal after which she got a berth in the Modi Cabinet as Union Minister for Food Processing.