Om Parkash Soni

Om Parkash Soni is an Indian politician and Former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab who belongs to the Indian National Congress. He is a member of Punjab Legislative Assembly represents Amritsar Central. He was also a Cabinet Minister in the government of Punjab and head of the School Education department.^[1] He was sworn as Deputy CM on 20th Sept 2021.

Om Parkash Soni
4th Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab
In office 20 September 2021 – 11 March 2022 Serving with Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa
Governor	Banwarilal Purohit
Chief Minister	Charanjit Singh Channi
Preceded by	Sukhbir Singh Badal
Succeeded by	Vacant
Member of Punjab Legislative Assembly
In office 2012–2022
Preceded by	Laxmi Kanta Chawla
Succeeded by	Ajay Gupta
Constituency	Amritsar Central
In office 1997–2012
Preceded by	constituency created
Succeeded by	Raj Kumar Verka
Constituency	Amritsar West
Personal details
Born	(1957-07-03) 3 July 1957 (age 68) Bhilowal
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Suman Soni
Residence	Amritsar

Family

He was born on 3 July 1957 at village Bhilowal Pakka in Amritsar district of Punjab. His father's name is Jagat Mitter Soni. The name of his spouse is Suman Soni.^[2]

Political career

Soni was elected for Punjab Legislative Assembly from Amritsar West in 1997 as an independent candidate.^[3] He was re-elected in 2002 elections.^[4] In 2007, he successfully contested as Congress candidate Amritsar West.^[5] In 2012, he successfully contested from Amritsar Central.^[6]

Soni was one of the 42 INC MLAs who submitted their resignation in protest of a decision of the Supreme Court of India ruling Punjab's termination of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) water canal unconstitutional.^[7]

In March 2017, he was again elected from Amritsar Central Assembly constituency by defeating its nearest opponent Tarun Chugh of BJP with a margin of 21,116 votes. In April 2018, he was made a cabinet minister of Punjab and given the charge of School Education department.