Former union minister Digvijay Singh passes away

New Delhi/London, June 24 (ANI): Former union minister and Lok Sabha member Digvijay Singh passed away in a private hospital in London on Thursday. He was 54.

According to his aide S K Mishra, Singh breathed his last at the St. Thomas Hospital London.

Singh was suffering from brain hemorrhage.

Singh was elected three times to the Lok Sabha in--1998, 1999, 2009 and two times to the Rajya Sabha -1990 and 2004.

Singh, a former Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader, won the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Banka constituency as an independent candidate.

He had served as a minister in the National Democratic Alliance Government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chandrashekhar led Janata Government.

He also served as President of the National Rifle Association of India since 1999.

Vice President Hamid Ansari has condoled the death of Singh.

In his message, Ansari said that Singh served the people with distinction during his many years in public life and always worked for the upliftment of poor and the downtrodden and earned the respect and admiration of the people for his dedication, sense of public service, innate simplicity and honesty.

"I am deeply grieved to learn about the sad demise of Shri Digvijay Singh, former Union Minister and Member of Parliament," Ansari said.

"He served the people with distinction during his many years in public life and always worked for the upliftment of poor and the downtrodden and earned the respect and admiration of the people for his dedication, sense of public service, innate simplicity and honesty. His services to the country shall always be remembered," he added. (ANI)