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Randeep Surjewala is a prominent Indian politician. He is from the Congress Party. He is a former MLA from Haryana and also the Chief Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress (INC).
Wiki/Biography
Randeep Surjewala was born on Saturday, 3 June 1967 (age 52 years; as in 2019) in Chandigarh. His zodiac sign is Gemini. His full name is Randeep Singh Surjewala. He did his schooling from the Adarsh Baal Mandir High School and the Arya Senior Secondary School in Narwana, Haryana. He then pursued Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.) from the DAV College in Chandigarh in 1981. In 1985, he did Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Panjab University, Chandigarh. In 1995, he went on to do his Post Graduation in Political Science from Panjab University.
Randeep Surjewala in his younger days
In 1988, he started practising law at the age of 21. Initially, he worked with a law firm named “Shroff & Company.” In 1991, he started practising at the High Court of Punjab & Haryana. In 1992, he became the youngest senator of the Panjab University and also a Member of the Faculty Consultative Committee in the Law Faculty. His father was a prominent politician of the Congress Party, and he used to help his father with the activities of the party. Randeep also helped his father rebuild the Congress in Haryana.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 10″
Eye Colour: Black
Hair Colour: Black
Family, Caste, and Wife
Randeep Surjewala belongs to a Jat family . His father, Chaudhary Shamsher Singh Surjewala is a retired Indian politician of the Congress Party who served as an MLA in the Haryana Legislative Assembly for 5 times and an MP in 1993. His father also served as the President of the Youth Congress before independence. His mother, Vidya Surjewala is a homemaker. He has 3 elder sisters, Madhu Dalal, Poonam Chaudhary, and Neeru (deceased).
Randeep Surjewala (right) with his father Shamsher Singh Surjewala (left)
On 26 December 1991, he got married to Gayatri (Homemaker). They have two sons, Arjun (elder) and Aditya.
Career
Randeep got involved in politics when he used to work with his father in the daily workings of the Congress Party. His father was working towards rebuilding the Congress Party in Haryana. Randeep soon became an active member of the Congress Party and in 1986, he was appointed as the Joint Secretary of the Haryana Youth Congress. He was the youngest Joint Secretary of the Congress Party. Eventually, he was promoted as the General Secretary of the Haryana Youth Congress. In 1993, Surjewala made his electoral debut by contesting the by-elections of the Haryana Assembly Elections from the Narwana Assembly Constituency, but he did not win.
Randeep Surjewala with Sonia Gandhi
He worked in his constituency for 3 years, and in 1996, he contested the Assembly elections. He was fielded against the then Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. He shot to fame after his win as winning against a sitting Chief Minister was a big achievement. In 2000, he was re-elected from the Narwana Assembly Constituency. In March 2000, he was appointed as the National President of the Indian Youth Congress, following his win in the Haryana Legislative Assembly. He held this post till February 2005, making him the longest-serving President of the Indian Youth Congress. In 2004, he was appointed as a Secretary of the All Indian Congress Committee (AICC) by Rahul Gandhi.
Randeep Surjewala with Rahul Gandhi
In December 2004, just a couple of months before the 2015 Haryana Assembly Elections, Surjewala was appointed as the working President of the Haryana Congress. He also contested the elections from the Narwana Assembly Constituency and won against the sitting Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. The Congress also won the Haryana Assembly Elections, and Surjewala was appointed as a Cabinet Minister in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government. During his tenure as a Cabinet Minister, he held various portfolios such as the PWD, Power, and Parliamentary Affairs. In 2009, he was re-elected as an MLA from the newly formed Kaithal Assembly Constituency; following delimitation of the Narwana Assembly Constituency. He was appointed as a Cabinet Minister, and he held portfolios such as Water Supply & Sanitation, Parliamentary Affairs, Electronics & Information, Science & Technology, and the PWD.
Randeep Surjewala in a rally
In 2014, he was re-elected as an MLA from the Kaithal Assembly Constituency of Haryana. In January 2019, the Congress announced Surjewala’s name as their candidate from the Jind Assembly by-elections of Haryana. Reportedly, Surjewala did not want to contest as he was a sitting MLA, but Rahul Gandhi persuaded him to contest from Jind; as he wanted a strong face to win in the by-polls before the 2019 Haryana Assembly Elections in October 2019. Surjewala suffered a humiliating defeat in the by-polls, and he came in the third position. He contested the 2019 Haryana Assembly Elections from the Kaithal Assembly Constituency but lost to BJP’s Leela Ram.
Randeep Surjewala addressing a press conference
He was appointed as the General Secretary In-charge of Madhya Pradesh on 17 August 2023.
Controversies
- In October 2012, a Dalit girl from Hisar was raped. The girl’s father committed suicide after a video of her getting raped was circulated by the accused. The girl stated that her father was a gardener at Surjewala’s house, but he neither talked to the family nor he visited them. She told the media that had Surjewala taken the cognizance of the incident, the police would have worked more efficiently. However, he didn’t take any such action, said the victim.
- In February 2016, while Surjewala was addressing a press conference, he addressed the 2001 Parliament attack convict “Afzal Guru” as “Afzal Guru Ji”. The video clip of Surjewala addressing him as “Afzal Guru Ji” went viral on social media. Thereafter, he had to issue an apology after he was questioned as to why he was addressing a terrorist with so much respect.
- In February 2019, after the terror attack in Pulwama, Surjewala posted a tweet stating- “Pakistan had committed more than 5000 ceasefire violations, where is Narendra Modi‘s 56-inch chest now?” Surjewala was widely criticized for his tweet. People from all factions of the society criticized him and stated that instead of mourning the CRPF soldiers, Congress is politicising the terror attack.
Signature
Randeep Surjewala’s signature
Assets/Properties
- Bank Deposits: 66.95 lacs INR
- Agricultural Land: worth 17.50 lacs INR in Narwana, Haryana
- Commercial Buildings: worth 1.63 crores INR
- Residential Building: worth 18 lacs INR in Chandigarh
Salary & Net Worth
- Salary: 1 lac INR + other allowances (as an MLA)
- Net Worth: 4.39 crores INR (as in 2019)
Facts/Trivia
- He loves listening to Ghazals and Poetry, he also enjoys Trekking and camping.
- In 2015, he was appointed as the head of the AICC Communications Department by Rahul Gandhi.
Randeep Surjewala with Rahul Gandhi
- He is a close aide and advisor to Rahul Gandhi.