# Tota Singh

Jathedar Tota Singh (2 March 1941 – 21 May 2022) was an Indian politician who belonged to the Shiromani Akali Dal. He was Minister for Agriculture & NRI Affairs in the previous Punjab Government. He was Senior Vice President and Member, High Power Committee of Shiromani Akali Dal. He was also a Member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. He also served as acting president of Shiromani Akali Dal after Surjit Singh Barnala when Barnala was appointed as Governor of Tamil Nadu in 1989.

## Family and education

His father's name was Babu Singh. He completed his school education from his village school and for further studies he joined DM college Moga.

## Political career

He was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1997 on a Shiromani Akali Dal ticket from Moga. He was made Minister for Education in the Third Badal ministry during 1997–2002. He was re-elected from Moga in 2002. In 2012, he successfully contested from Dharamkot. He was cabinet minister and held portfolio of Agriculture & NRI Affairs. He also served at designation of Chairman Punjab Mandi Board 1985–1987 under Surjit Singh Barnala government. He was a continuous member of Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandak Committee (known as Sikh Parliament) for many years. He also served as acting president of Shiromani Akali Dal after Surjit Singh Barnala when barnala was appointed as governor of Tamil Nadu in 1989.
In 2017, Singh contested the assembly election from Dharamkot Assembly Constituency but was defeated by Sukhjit Singh (INC) who succeeded Singh as the MLA from Dharamkot.

## Electoral Performance

1997 Punjab Legislative Assembly election : Moga :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SAD | Tota Singh | 41,616 | 47.41 | 47.41 |
| | JD | Sathi Vijay Kumar | 20,217 | 23.03 | 7.72 |
| | INC | Malti Thapar | 16,919 | 19.27 | 11.51 |
| | BSP | Amarjit Singh | 5,703 | 6.50 | 3.51 |
| | Independent | Jagdish Chander | 2,542 | 2.90 | 18.11 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 21,399 | 24.38 | 24.35 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 88,825 | 66.46 | 42.56 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 1,33,659 | | |
| | SAD gain from INC | SAD gain from INC | SAD gain from INC | SAD gain from INC | SAD gain from INC |
2002 Punjab Legislative Assembly election : Moga :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SAD | Tota Singh | 42,579 | 47.91 | 0.50 |
| | INC | Sathi Vijay Kumar | 42,274 | 47.56 | 24.53 |
| | SAD(A) | Buta Singh | 2,125 | 2.39 | 2.39 |
| | CPI(M) | Ved Parkash | 120 | 0.14 | 0.14 |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | 305 | 0.35 | 24.38 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 89,194 | 58.01 | 8.45 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 1,53,753 | | |
| | SAD hold | SAD hold | SAD hold | SAD hold | SAD hold |
2007 Punjab Legislative Assembly election : Moga :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | INC | Joginder Pal Jain | 55,300 | 47.77 | 1.37 |
| | SAD | Tota Singh | 54,008 | 46.65 | 3.70 |
| | CPI | Randhir Singh | 3,068 | 2.65 | 2.65 |
| | BSP | Kulwant Singh | 1,791 | 0.92 | 0.51 |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | 1,292 | 1.12 | 0.77 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,15,770 | 75.90 | 17.89 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 1,52,708 | | |
| | INC gain from SAD | INC gain from SAD | INC gain from SAD | INC gain from SAD | INC gain from SAD |
Punjab Assembly election, 2017: Dharamkot :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | INC | Sukhjit Singh Kaka Lohgarh | 63,238 | 43.92 | |
| | SAD | Tota Singh | 41020 | 28.49 | |
| | AAP | Daljit Singh | 34615 | 24.04 | |
| | CPI | Surat Singh | 1325 | 0.92 | |
| | SAD(A) | Balraj Singh | 1089 | 0.76 | |
| | BSP | Jagga Singh | 456 | 0.32 | |
| | Independent | Vikas | 312 | 0.22 | |
| | IKL | Baljit Singh | 291 | 0.2 | |
| | APP | Sukhpal Singh | 258 | 0.18 | |
| | Independent | Manjit Kaur | 197 | 0.14 | |
| | BMP | Gurdeep Singh | 186 | 0.13 | |
| | NOTA | None of the above | 1009 | 0.7 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 174,148 | | |
| | INC gain from SAD | INC gain from SAD | INC gain from SAD | INC gain from SAD | INC gain from SAD |