Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who was admitted to a private hospital in New Delhi for the past several days, passed away on Thursday. He was 74 years old.
The news of the veteran leader’s demise was announced by his son and Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan, who tweeted: “Father, now you are no more in this world but wherever you are, you will be with me. Miss you papa…” He also shared an old photo of him and his father along with the tweet.
According to his close family members, Paswan breathed his last on Thursday evening at around 8.20 pm at the Fortis Hospital where he was admitted following heart ailments. Union Ministers Dr Harsh Vardhan, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Ramdas Athawale reached the hospital as soon as they learned of the news.
On Saturday, Chirag Paswan had announced that due to sudden conditions, his father has to undergosurgery on Friday evening. “And if required, one more surgery can be required in the coming weeks. I thank everyone for standing with me and my family members in such testing times,” he had tweeted.
His death came just days after Chirag Paswan decided to leave the NDA in Bihar and fight the Assembly polls on their own.
One of the leading Dalit leaders in the country, Paswan had been Minister in the Narendra Modi government, the Manmohan Singh-led UPA-1 government as well as the Atal Bihari Vajpayeeled NDA government at the Centre.
With IANS inputs