Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Rajya Sabha member Varinder Singh Bajwa (82) passed away late on Friday late night following a cardiac arrest. He represented Punjab in the Rajya Sabha from 2004 to 2010.He started his political career with the SAD in 1980 and became president of the Hoshiarpur unit in 1995. He left the SAD and joined the Congress in 2017. He, however, rejoined the Akali Dal ahead of the 2022 Punjab Assembly poll. Leaders of various parties expressed condolences to his wife Jagjit Kaur, an educationist from Government College, Hoshiarpur.His last rites will be held on Monday.