Patiala, September 6 - Emotional tributes were paid to late Surjit Singh Kohli (73), father of Patiala MLA Ajitpal Singh Kohli and former minister, who passed away recently, during the last prayers and tribute ceremony at Gurdwara Shri Moti Bagh Sahib here today. Various speakers on the occasion described late Sardar Kohli as a great personality of humility and a pillar of social service.

Paying tributes on behalf of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Dr. Gurpreet Kaur, wife of the Chief Minister, thanked the entire Sangat, religious, political and social personalities who attended the last prayers on behalf of the Kohli family. Dr. Gurpreet Kaur said that the Kohli family is Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann's own family. She said that the Kohli family has been serving the people for many generations, so Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and she are very proud of this family.

On this occasion, Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan said that Ajitpal Singh Kohli is also following the footsteps of his grandfather and father as late Surjit Singh Kohli had given good guidance to his children to follow the teachings of the Guru. He said that the huge crowd that turned up today to pay tribute to late Surjit Singh Kohli is proof that the Kohli family has won the love of the people as well as the trust of the people of Patiala. National Commission for Minorities Chairman Iqbal Singh Lalpura said that he hoped that late Sardar Kohli's sons Ajitpal Singh Kohli and Gurjit Singh Kohli would continue the flow of service like their grandfather and father.

Lok Sabha Member from Patiala Dr. Dharamvir Gandhi said that the Kohli family has served the people of Patiala for generations as a humble servant. That is why the Kohli family is known as Sevadaar Parivar. Former MP Tarolchan Singh mentioned the service rendered by the Kohli family for generations and introduced the life of late Sardara Singh Kohli and late Surjit Singh Kohli. He said that the Kohli family should write a book on their contribution to politics and make a film on the service. Former Mayor Amarinder Singh Bajaj paid floral tribute on behalf of the Akali Dal. On this occasion, condolence messages were also sent by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, BJP leader Tarun Chugh, Sant Kashmir Singh Bhuri Wale and many other political, religious and social personalities and organizations.

Punjab Cabinet Ministers Chetan Singh Jodmajra, Bram Shankar Jimpa, Harbhajan Singh ETO and Gurmeet Singh Khurian, Deputy Speaker Jai Krishna Singh Rori, Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab affairs in-charge and Delhi MLA Jarnail Singh, AAP state president and MLA Principal Buddh Ram, Punjab Mandi Board Chairman Harchand Singh Burst, Chief Minister's OSD Professor Omkar Singh, Ajitpal Singh Kohli's fellow MLAs Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, Kulwant Singh Shutrana, Gurdev Singh Dev Mann, Neena Mittal, Dr. Jivanjot Kaur, Aman Arora, Inderjit Kaur Mann, Kuljit Singh Randhawa, Engr. Amit Rattan, Virinder Goyal, Advocate Lakhvir Singh Rai, Rajvir Singh Bhullar, Sarwan Singh Dhun, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, Jamilu Rehman, Dr. Ravjot Singh, Balkar Sidhu, Sherry Kalsi, Ashok Parashar Pappi, former minister Bikram Singh Majithia, Director of Chief Minister Media Baltej Pannu, District Planning Committee Chairman Jassi Sohiyanwala, Preeti Malhotra, AAP Women District President Shaminder Kaur, Veerpal Kaur Chahal, BJP's Jaiinder Kaur, former MP Professor Prem Singh Chandumajra, former MP Jagmeet Singh Barar, former MLA Hardayal Singh Kamboj, Madan Lal Jalalpur, Rajinder Singh, artist Hobby Dhaliwal, Pammi Bai, BJP State General Secretary Anil Sareen, Chairman Jasvir Singh Kudni, Inderjit Singh Sandhu, Jarnail Mannu, Amrik Singh Bangar, Talvir Singh Gill, Harjashan Singh Pathanmajra, Raju Sahni, Gurjit Singh Sahni, Jaspreet Singh Bhola Sethi, Amritpal Singh Pali, Gursewak Singh Golu, Harinderpal Singh Chandumajra, Harinderpal Singh Tohra, Kanwarbir Singh Tohra, Randhir Singh Rakhra, Information and Public Relations Department Secretary Malvinder Singh Jaggi, Deputy Commissioner Shaukat Ahmed Pare, DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar, SSP Dr. Nanak Singh, Municipal Corporation Commissioner Aditya Dechalwal, SDM Arvind Kumar, Jagdeep Singh Jagga, Kundan Gogia, former Mayor Sanjeev Bittu, Indermohan Singh Bajaj, Vijay Kapoor, Principal JP Singh, Kishan Chand Budhu, General Singh Kartarpur, Jagjit Singh Dardi, Hari Singh Tohra, Sukhminder Pal Singh Minta, Harvinder Singh Nippy, former Mayor Vishnu Sharma were also present. During this, the group of Raggi Bhai Lakhwinder Singh present in Sri Darbar Sahib performed Vairagamai Kirtan. On the occasion of the ceremony, Jathedar Singh Sahib of Budha Dal Fifth Takht, Jathedar Balbir Singh 96 Crore, Singh Sahib Gyani Harpreet Singh, Baba Amrik Singh Kar Seva Wale, Sant Paramjit Singh Hansali Sahib, Brahmanand Giri from Hindu Takht, Mahant Jagtar Singh Nainiwal, Baba Sarabjit Singh Bhalla, Mahant Balwant Singh, Mahant Teja Singh Khudda, Mahant Sundar Singh and other religious personalities also arrived and gave Siropao to Ajitpal Singh Kohli and Gurjit Singh Kohli.
On the occasion of the last prayer and tribute ceremony, various political, social and religious personalities, residents of the city, a large number of Sake relatives and other important personalities offered flowers of respect to the late former minister Surjit Singh Kohli. On this occasion, saplings were planted in the memory of late Kohli by the Young Khalsa Foundation.