Surjith Singh Barnala
Barnala was born in Atali village, which was then part of Punjab state, but is now part of Haryana. Barnala became politically active in Punjab and served as chief minister of that state from September 29 1985 until May 11 1987. Barnala, a Sikh and a member of the Sikh political party Shiromani Akali Dal served as chief minister at a difficult time, as there was great tension between Hindus and Sikhs, much of which had been centered on Punjab. The state had been under president's rule from 1983 to 1985, and after nearly two years in office, Barnala was forced out and the state was put under president's rule for another three years.
Since then, Barnala has served as a governor of several states. He first served as governor of Tamil Nadu from 1990 to 1991. He was the lieutenant governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands from 1990 to 1993, governor of Uttaranchal from its creation in 2000 until 2003, and governor of Andhra Pradesh from 2003 to 2004, when he took up his current post as governor of Tamil-Nadu.
In 1997, Barnala was a candidate to be the vice-president of India but was defeated in Parliament by Krishan Kant.
