New Year brought sad news for Congress; another senior leader died
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
New Year brought a sad news for congress as its senior leader Buta Singh, who was in a coma since October last year, died early morning , at around 5.30 am in the morning,at the AIIMS in New Delhi, as per his family. He was 86.
The senior Congress leader was in a coma since October last year when he was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after he suffered a brain hemorrhage.
He was educated at Lyallpur Khalsa College in Jalandhar, from where he was awarded a B.A. (Hons), and at Guru Nanak Khalsa College in Bombay, where he earned a M.A. Singh then gained a Ph.D. from Bundelkhand University. He married Manjit Kaur in 1964; the couple had three children.
He worked as journalist before joining politics.He was the Union Home Minister of India, Governor of Bihar and was chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes from 2007 to 2010. Singh fought his first elections as an Akali Dal member and joined the Indian National Congress in the 1960s. He was first elected to the third Lok Sabha in 1962 from the Sadhna constituency in Rajasthan.
He subsequently held many positions including those of the Union home minister and Union agriculture minister, other portfolios that he has held include those for railways, commerce, parliamentary affairs, sports, shipping, communications and housing.
He was very closely involved with former prime minister Indira Gandhi in Operation Blue Star and as a minister he oversaw reconstruction of the Golden Temple following that exercise. His name was also in the finalists for the post of President of India along with Giani Zail Singh in the Indira era. He was also the chairperson of Asian Games organizing committee when the competition was held in India in 1982.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have condoled his demise. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief and extended his condolences to the senior leader’s family. “Shri Buta Singh Ji was an experienced administrator and effective voice for the welfare of the poor as well as downtrodden. Saddened by his passing away. My condolences to his family and supporters,” PM Modi tweeted.
Rahul Gandhi too condoled the Singh’s death and said that the nation has lost a loyal public servant today. “The country has lost a loyal leader and public servant with the death of Buta Singh ji. He devoted his entire life for the service of the country and the well being of the people, for which he will always be remembered. My condolences to his family members during this difficult time,” he tweeted.
January 2,2021
