Atma Singh (1912 – 27.5.1997), son of Jhanda Singh, was born at village Jhanda Singh (in Sheikhupura, now Nanakana Sahib District) of Paksitan. As he belonged to a porr family, he could not obtain higher education and joined service at Gurdwara Nanaksana Sahib. In 1947, when the Punjab was partitioned, he had to move to the East Punjab. He spent several years at Amritsar and served the office of Akali Sal. In 1952, he was elected MLA from Sultanpur as an Akali candidate. During this period he was rhe General Secretary of the Akali Dal. In 1957 he was a joint Akali-Congress candiadate from Sultanpur. In 1962 he lst election but was elected again in 1969, 1977 and 1980. Like many Akali leaders he went to jail several times: in 1955 he was arrested during Punjabi Suba Zindabad agitation; in 1960 too he was arrested during Punjabi Suba Agitation. In 1969, he was given a berth in the Akali government; again in 1977, he was appointed minister. He spent most of his time at Sultanpur, where he set up a college (where his son-in-law Gurdip Singh was appointed principal). In later years of his life he became ill and was confined to bed for several years; as a result he retired from politics. His daughter Dr Upinderjit kaur, was chosen as his successor and was elected MLA from Sultanpur; she too served as minister for about 10 years.
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)