He first became chief minister in 1970, heading a coalition government that did not complete its term. He was also the CM in 1977-80, 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012-2017

He was MLA 11 times, losing an election for the state assembly only twice. In 1977, he joined Morarji Desai's government briefly as the Agriculture minister at the Centre

In 2008, Badal handed over the reins of the SAD, which he had headed from 1995, to son Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also became the deputy chief minister under him

Born on December 8, 1927 in Abul Khurana near Malout, Badal graduated from the Forman Christian College in Lahore. His first political posts were the sarpanch of Badal village and the chairman of the block samiti

He entered the state assembly from Malout in 1957 as the Congress nominee. In 1969, he won the Gidderbaha assembly seat on the SAD ticket

When Gurnam Singh, the then chief minister, defected to the Congress in 1970, the SAD regrouped and forming the government with the support of the Jana Sangh

Badal then became the youngest chief minister in the country, even if the coalition government lasted just a little more than a year. In 2017, when he ended his last stint as CM, he was among the oldest to have held that post

Parkash Singh Badal was not the one to give up easily, on life or on politics. Only last year, the Shiromani Akal Dal fielded the patriarch again from home turf Lambi in Punjab's Muktsar district for the assembly elections

He lost but entered the record books for being the oldest person to fight an election in the country. This was his 14th electoral battle in a long political career that began when he became the sarpanch of Badal village in Bathinda district