Early Politics and Freedom Fighting

Ujjal Singh first joined the Chief Khalsa Diwan of Sir Sundar Singh Majithia in 1919.^[8] He was elected to the Punjab Legislative Council in (1926–36) and continued serving till 1956.^[9] He also served as the secretary of the Khalsa National Party, which was created by Sir Jogendra Singh in 1935 where he worked in Sikh political and religious affairs and became a member of the first Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.^[10] His actions were well received by the Sikh spheres- by the time he became famous his cousin Mehtab Singh became the President of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Deputy President of Punjab Legislative Council.^[11] He supported Jathedar Akali Baba Chet Singh Nihang's crusade for allowing the Akali-Nihangs to keep spears and full-length swords with themselves at all times.^[9]

He served as Parliamentary Secretary (Home) in the Unionist Government in undivided Punjab (1936-1941).^[9] He was nominated as the Urban Sikh representative to the 1st and 2nd Round Table Conferences held in London.^[12] He resigned in protest to the British not freeing Akali prisoners during the Gurdwara Reform Movement.^[12] Later he refused to attend the 3rd Round Table Conference in protest to the Communal Award and the British not taking the Sikh stance into consideration. He was then apart of the Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru Committee in 1944.^[12]

Partition of India

During the Partition of India, he supported Master Tara Singh and became an ardent supporter of the widespread Islamophobia in the Sikh community.^[4] Independence of Sikhistan was declared on 9th March in Maharaja Dalip Singh Nagar, Lahore by Ujjal Singh himself along with other notable Sikhs like Master Tara Singh and Giani Kartar Singh Jhabbar.^[13] He was apart of the Sikh Council of Action set up with Dictator Niranjan Singh Gill of the Azad Hind Fauj.^[4] He was then elected into the Defense Committee to protect Hindus and Sikhs from Islamic aggression.^[4] He then visited Rawalpindi and Panja Sahib to help Hindus and Sikhs who fell prey to riots in West Punjab.^[4] He along with Jawaharlal Nehru arrived and secured the protection of refugees in Punjab.^[4]

He had later donated thousands for the resettlement of refugees, he himself being one as the had no property in India and was homeless.^[14] He later bought a home for himself in Mashobra, Himachal Pradesh and lived there for a very long time.^[15]

Later Politics

Ujjal Singh argued in favour of the adoption of the Objective Resolution which laid down the founding principles of the Constitution.^[15]

He served as Minister of Industries and Civil Supplies, and again as Finance and Industries Minister between 1949 and 1956.^[15] He was a member of the Second Finance Commission established by the Government of India from June 1956 to September 1957.^[15][10]

He served as Governor of Punjab from 1 September 1965 to 27 June 1966, during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and the Punjabi Suba Movement. He supported the movement and was a key reason for it not drowning in blood and being kept peaceful.^[4] He took up large tracts of land in the lower Bari Doab region, which was considered uncultivatable and used mechanized farming (which he used since 1928) to make sure it was cultivatable for wheat and sugarcane.^[4] He also participated in the U.N.O. sponsored conference on Food and Agriculture held in Quebec (Canada) as a delegate of the Government of India.^[4] He was also the Director and Chairman of the Punjab & Sind Bank from 1947 to 1960.^[4]

As a member of the Punjabi University Commission (1960), he was instrumental in setting up of Punjabi University, Patiala.^[16] He was the founder of Guru Nanak Public School, Chandigarh, where he served as Founder President.^[17]

He was the Governor of Tamil Nadu from 28 June 1966 to 25 May 1971.^[18]