- Tuesday, April 23, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
KALYAN Singh, the former chief minister of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, passed away at the age of 89 on Saturday (21) due to sepsis and multi-organ failure. He is survived by his wife Ramwati Devi and two sons.
The veteran leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been receiving treatment in the intensive care unit of SGPGIMS (Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences) in Lucknow, the capital of UP since July 4.
His condition deteriorated on Friday (20) and he was put on dialysis.
Singh was the first BJP chief minister of UP, India’s most populous state and a crucial one politically, and served two times – between June 1991 and December 1992 and September 1997 and November 1999. He also served as the governor of the state of Rajasthan between 2014 and 2019. He also held the additional responsibility as the governor of the state of Himachal Pradesh in 2015. Singh was also a member of the Lok Sabha of the Indian parliament between 2009 and 2014.
Singh’s first term as the chief minister is remembered for the demolition of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. The incident rocked the entire India and is seen as a milestone on the BJP’s rise as a major political force in the country.
Singh stepped down as the chief minister immediately after the demolition and the then president of India, Shankar Dayal Sharma, dismissed the UP government. Singh was charged with conspiracy over the incident along with BJP stalwarts like Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi condoled Singh’s death tweeting, “Kalyan Singh Ji gave voice to crores of people belonging to the marginalised sections of society. He made numerous efforts towards the empowerment of farmers, youngsters and women.”
UP’s current chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who visited Singh in the hospital earlier on Saturday, also condoled the senior leader’s death saying it was an irreparable loss. His government has declared three days of national morning and a holiday on Monday (23) when Singh will be cremated.
Former chief ministers of UP — Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati – also expressed their grief over Singh’s death on Twitter.
