Former CM Hooda pays tribute to freedom fighter Ch Ranbir Singh

A shradhanjali sabha was organised on Sunday to pay tribute to freedom fighter and member of the Constituent Assembly, Ch Ranbir Singh, on his death anniversary.

Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, along with several senior leaders, paid homage to the freedom fighter. On the occasion, all those present took an oath to protect the Constitution, alleging that leaders of the ruling BJP had repeatedly been making statements about changing it.

Hooda said that his father Ch Ranbir Singh devoted his entire life to the service of the nation and society. He first struggled for the country’s independence and then suffered imprisonment.

“After independence, he continued to fight for securing rights of farmers, Dalits, and the underprivileged. On November 23, 1948, in the Constituent Assembly, Ch Ranbir Singh was the first to propose providing Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers. It was only after his demand that MSP was later implemented in the country. Not only this, he also raised the demand in the Constituent Assembly to grant Hindi the status of the national language. He further presented important proposals on issues such as taking steps for cow protection and providing reservation to backward classes,” he added.

Hooda said that while serving as a minister in the governments of Haryana and Punjab, Ch Ranbir Singh took several important decisions. He played a significant role in the construction of India’s first major dam — the Bhakra Nangal Dam project. The dam was inaugurated on July 7, 1954, by the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Speaking about his participation in the freedom movement, Hooda said that Ch Ranbir Singh spent several years in eight different jails — four of which are now in India and four in Pakistan. “Ch Ranbir Singh is the only person to have been a member of seven different legislative bodies: the Constituent Assembly, Constituent Legislative Assembly, Provisional Parliament, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Punjab Legislative Assembly, and Haryana Legislative Assembly. This extraordinary record is honourably recorded in the Limca Book of World Records,” he added.