Ajit Singh, former Union Minister and one of India’s senior most politicians, died on Thursday at 82. The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief had been battling Covid-19.
The RLD chief was admitted to a private hospital in Gurugram after his condition deteriorated due to a lung infection on Tuesday. Singh had tested positive for the novel coronavirus on April 20.
Ajit Singh’s condition worsened and he passed away on Thursday, his son and former MP Jayant Chaudhary confirmed on Twitter. “Chaudhary Ajit Singh ji was diagnosed as Covid positive on April 20. He battled his condition till the very end and breathed his last today morning,” Jayant Chaudhary said.
Political life:
Ajit Singh, son of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, was a seven-time MP from Baghpat and also served as the Union Minister of Civil Aviation.
An alumnus of the IIT, Kharagpur and Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Ajit Singh was first elected to Rajya Sabha in 1986.
He was the Union minister of industry in former Prime Minister BP Singh’s cabinet from December 1989 to November 1990.
He later served as the Union minister of food in the PV Narasimha Rao cabinet and again as the minister of agriculture from 2001 to 2003 in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. When his party joined the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2011, Chaudhary Ajit Singh came on board to serve as the Union minister of civil aviation from December 2011 to May 2014.
Condolences:
Paying his tributes to the leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “The death of former Union Minister Chaudhary Ajit Singh ji is extremely sad. He was always devoted to the interests of the farmers. He efficiently discharged the responsibilities of several departments at the centre. My condolences to his family and fans in this hour of mourning. om Shanti!”
Offering his condolences, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “The mind is deeply distressed by the sad news of the death of Choudhary Ajit Singh, the sympathizer of the farmers and the son of the earth. The voice of the farmer has suffered a huge loss in the country today. Every warrior who accompanies us in every struggle of agriculture will always be in our memory.”
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed grief over Ajit Singh’s demise and said that the late RLD chief was a true farmer leader.
Congress National convener took to Twitter and offered condolences.