Union Minister and LJP patriarch Ram Vilas Paswan passed away Thursday evening, his son Chirag tweeted. He was 74. Paswan had undergone heart surgery last week and was due to undergo another one in a few days. He was in critical condition with multiple organ complications.
A Dalit leader from Bihar, Paswan had been serving as the Union Minister of Food and Public Distribution in the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.
An eight-time Lok Sabha MP, Paswan went to jail during Indira Gandhi’s tenure when an emergency was imposed in the country.
He began his political career as a member of the Samyukta Socialist Party and in 1969 became a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly.
Paswan was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1977 as a Janata Party member and was re-elected for five consecutive times from Hajipur constituency in Bihar. He had formed LJP in 2000 and joined Congress-led United Progressive Alliance in 2004.
