Sardar Surjit Singh Barnala was born on 21st October 1925 at Ateli Begpur in Haryana. He passed matriculation at Nabha and then went to Lucknow for higher studies and passed Law from Lucknow University in 1946. During his stay at Lucknow he participated in the Quit India Movement in 1942. He started practicing law in District Courts at Barnala in 1967 and was elected to the Legislative Assembly from Barnala constituency.

He represented this constituency till 1999. In 1969, he became the Education Minister of Punjab. During his tenure, he was instrumental in establishing Guru Nanak Dev University at Amritsar. In 1977 he was elected to the Parliament and was inducted as Cabinet Minister in the Janata Government headed by Shri Morarji Desai with Agriculture, Food, Irrigation and Rural Development as his portfolios.

In 1985 he was elected as President of Shiromani Akali Dal and became the Chief Minister of Punjab in 1985. In 1990 he was appointed as Governor of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996 and again in 1998 and was appointed as Cabinet Minister with Chemical & Fertilizers and Food & Civil Supplies departments. He was also the first Governor of Uttaranchal state.

He has represented India in the United Nations, FAO, SARC and other international organizations. He has traveled extensively. He is a nature lover, fond of painting, reading and writing. He has painted scores of paintings and an exhibition of his paintings was held in 1998 in the Art Gallery of Patiala University. He has also authored the book “Story of An Escape”.