Arjun Singh: Cong drops him & he leaves all behind

New Delhi, Mar 5: It's nothing but an irony that when the party, for which a man had served through his whole life, dropped him and in return, he left the world leaving all behind forever. Arjun Singh, a veteran Congress leader passed away just a few hours later when he was dropped by the party from its working committee on Friday, Mar 4.

81-year-old Arjun Singh reportedly had a heart attack and was admitted in New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Singh died in the hospital at the late Friday evening.

After much speculations and discussions, Congress accomplished the reshuffle in its working committee which is known as Congress Working Committee (CWC). The party dropped Arjun Singh and six others from the CWC and two general secretaries Mohsina Kidwai and V Narayanswami.

Who is Arjun Singh?

81-year-old Arjun Singh, hailed from Madhya Pradesh, was the Union Minister of Human Resource Development in the Manmohan Singh cabinet from 2004 to 2009.

Singh is survived by his wife Saroj Singh, his two sons, Abhimanyu and Ajay, and daughter Veena Singh. Young Bollywood actor Arunoday Singh is his grandson.

Arjun Singh, who was a minister during Narasimha Rao's tenure, resigned after Babri masjid demolition. He served as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh three times, Union minister and Governor of Punjab once for a short period.

Arjun Singh was mostly criticised over the deadly gas leak from the Union Carbide factory which is well-known as Bhopal Gas tragedy. Singh was the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh at the time of the tragedy in 1984. He was allegedly fled to his Kerwa Dam palace (outside Bhopal) to save himself from deadly effects of leaked gas and was not available to manage the crisis or lead the administration. He was critisised over his role in the release of Warren Anderson.

Singh was elected as the member of Congress Working Committee (CWC) in 1992 with the highest margin of votes.

President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader L K Advani condoled the death of Singh.

Arjun Singh's son Ajay Singh informed the media that his father's cremation would take place on Sunday, Mar 6 in Churhat in Madhya Pradesh.

OneIndia News