Senior Shiv Sena leader Shabbir Shaikh passes away after illness

Mumbai, Oct 15: Senior

leader and former Maharashtra labour minister Shabbir Shaikh today died at a private hospital in suburban Bhiwandi, following prolonged illness, his family members said.

He was 71 and remained a bachelor while living in Bhiwandi's Kongaon area. "My uncle was suffering from a severe diabetes problem which had immobilised him.

He had been admitted to a hospital for the last couple of months, but his condition deteriorated since last week. It is all the more unfortunate that he expired on polling day," Shiv Sena leader and Shabbir Shaikh's nephew Haji Arafat Shaikh told PTI.

Shaikh who was a senior Shiv Sena leader and the party's biggest Muslim face, was elected thrice as an MLA, as well as served as Maharashtra labour minister in the Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra.

PTI