Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh passes away

Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister and senior Congress leader Virbhadra Singh died here in the wee hours of Thursday after a prolonged illness He was 87The veteran leader breathed his last at Indira Gandhi Medical College IGMC here at 340 am senior medical superintendent Indira Gandhi Medical College IGMC Dr Janak Raj saidHe suffered from heart attack on Monday and was critical He was in the critical care unit of IGMCVirbhadra was put on ventilator under the supervision of the doctors of the cardiology department on Wednesday after he had breathing problem he addedThe ninetime MLA and fivetime MP Singh served as Himachal Pradeshs chief minister for six timesVirbhadra was tested positive for COVID19 on June 11 for the second time in two monthsHe had earlier tested positive for the disease on April 12Earlier he was admitted to a hospital in Chandigarh after he tested positive for coronavirus on April 12Singh had returned home in Holly Lodge here on April 30 from the Chandigarh hospital after getting cured of the first infectionHowever he was admitted to IGMC within hours after reaching home as he complained of cardiac and breathing problems He was under treatment in the hospital ever since thenSinghs wife Pratibha Singh and the couples son Vikramaditya Singh are also politicians Pratibha is former MP while Vikramaditya is MLA from Shimla ruralThey had celebrated Singhs 87th birthday at their residence at Holly Lodge in a simple manner by cutting a cake in the presence of their supporters on June 23 At that time Virbhadra was convalescing at the IGMCThe veteran Congress leader remained chief minister of the state for six times from April 8 1983 to March 5 1990 December 3 1993 to March 23 1998 and from March 6 2003 to December 29 2007 and for the sixth time from December 25 2012 to December 26 2017Singh also remained the leader of Opposition from March 1998 to March 2003The veteran Congress leader also served as union deputy minister Tourism and Civil Aviation minister of state for industries union minister of steel and Union Minister of micro small amp medium enterprises MSMEHe was reelected to the 13th Vidhan Sabha in December 2017 from Arki Assembly Constituency in Solan districtEarlier he was elected to the state legislative assembly in October 1983 byelection reelected in 1985 from JubbalKotkhai assembly constituency in 1990 1993 1998 2003 amp 2007 from Rohru assembly constituency and in 2012 from Shimla rural assembly constituencyHe was also elected to third Lok Sabha in 1962 reelected to 4th Lok Sabha in 1967 from Mahasu Constituency 5th Lok Sabha in 1971 7th Lok Sabha in 1980 and 15th Lok Sabha 5th term in May 2009 from Mandi Lok Sabha ConstituencyThe veteran leader was BA Hons MA educated at Bishop Cotton School Shimla and St Stephens College DelhiSon of Late Raja Sir Padam Singh of Bushahr state he was born on June 23 1934 at SarahanHe also served as Himachal Pradesh Congress president in 1977 1979 1980 and from 26th August 2012 to December 2012This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever