Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister and Lok Jan Shakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan passed away at a private hospital in New Delhi on Thursday. He was 74 and had recently undergone heart surgery. His son and LJP leader, Chirag Paswan broke the news on Twitter in a series of tweets.
“Dad, you are no longer on this earth. But wherever you are, I know will always be with me. Miss you papa,” he tweeted in Hindi.
पापा….अब आप इस दुनिया में नहीं हैं लेकिन मुझे पता है आप जहां भी हैं हमेशा मेरे साथ हैं।
Miss you Papa… pic.twitter.com/Qc9wF6Jl6Z— युवा बिहारी चिराग पासवान (@iChiragPaswan) October 8, 2020
Ram Vilas Paswan had been in active politics for more than five decades and was regarded as one of India’s noted Dalit leaders. On 11 September, the late Union minister, had revealed that he had been hospitalized with an illness for some time. He had been suffering from a heart condition for a long time.
Ram Vilas Paswan had been part of the Narendra Modi government since 2014 and was currently holding the portfolio of Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
He had said that his son Chirag had taken complete charge of the party. Chirag wouldtake a final call regarding any decision on the alliance in Bihar, he had said.
In a series of tweets he had said that his health started to deteriorate during the coronavirus crisis, but he did not go to a hospital because he had to fulfill his responsibilities as the food minister.
“There was no laxity in the work. I continuously served the country as food minister and made every effort to ensure food reaches on time everywhere,” he wrote.
It is a year of losses for Indian politics, Some famous politicians we lost this year:
- Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon died at a hospital on 21, July 2020. He was 85. Tandon was in the hospital for the past few weeks.
- Former union minister Jaswant Singh died on 28, September in Delhi. Jaswant Singh, who was from Rajasthan, had served as India’s foreign minister, defense minister, and finance minister.
- Pranab Mukherjee, the elder statesman of Indian politics, died at 84. The former President of India, who had tested positive for coronavirus, had been in a coma after brain surgery earlier.
- The former chief minister of Chhattisgarh Ajit Pramod Kumar Jogi, 74, passed away on 29 May while in a coma after suffering from a third cardiac arrest at a private hospital here.
- Newly-elected Rajya Sabha member Ashok Gasti, who was admitted to a private hospital after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, died on 18, September the hospital said.
- Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi passed away on September 23. The MP from Belagavi in Karnataka was undergoing treatment for COVID-19.
- Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh, the close aide of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, has died in Singapore where he was undergoing treatment. He was 64.