Former union minister Santosh Mohan Dev passes away in Silchar

He was ailing for long and was admitted recently to a private hospital after he developed pneumonia.

Silchar (Assam), Aug 2: Former union minister and Congress leader Santosh Mohan Dev passed away at a hospital in Silchar, Assam, on Wednesday morning following a prolonged illness.

He was 86 and is survived by his former legislator wife Bithika Dev and four daughters, including Congress MP from Silchar, Sushmita Dev.

He was ailing for long and was admitted recently to a private hospital after he developed pneumonia. He breathed his last there at 6.06 am today.

Dev was Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise in the first UPA government led by Dr Manmohan Singh. He was elected to the Lok Sabha seven times since 1980 -- five times from Silchar and twice from Tripura. Dev was also a popular sports events organiser.

During his political career as an elected representative, Dev has held crucial cabinet and non Cabinet posts. Dev had represented India in the Population Conference held in China in 1982 and was a member of the Indian Parliamentary Delegation to Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference at Isle of Man in 1984.

He was the Union Minister of State for Tourism and Communications during 1986-1988 and the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs during 1988-1989. He also held the charge of Union Minister of State for Steel (Independent Charge) in 1991.

PTI