[2] Harkishan Singh Surjeet was born in 1916 in a Jat Sikh family in the village of Bundala, Jalandhar district of Punjab.

[3] He started his political career in the national liberation movement in his early teens, as a follower of the revolutionary socialist Bhagat Singh and in 1930 joined his Naujawan Bharat Sabha.

[3] The seven and a half decades-long political life of Harkishan Singh Surjeet began with his staunch fight against British colonial rule.

He was imprisoned in the notorious Lahore Red Fort where he was kept for three months in solitary confinement in terrible conditions.

His work with farmers led to his election as General Secretary and then President of the All India Kisan Sabha.

[2] He continued to rise within the party until he was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPI(M) in 1992, a post he held till 2005, retiring at the age of 89.

He was instrumental in forming a number of anti-BJP coalitions in the 1990s and for ensuring left support the present UPA government.

[1] After retiring from his post as General Secretary, Surjeet continued to play an active role in Indian national politics.

Many times, including after the 2004 Lok Sabha election and during the 1996-1998 United Front government, his role has been that of a cunning king-maker in parliamentary politics, mending and assembling broad coalitions.

With his health declining, Surjeet was, for the first time, not included in the CPI(M) Politburo at the party's 19th congress in early April 2008.