<p>A former Union minister, chief minister and governor, Arjun Singh, who made a strong bid to become prime minister in the 1990s, was admitted to hospital about two weeks ago. He was on life support system when the end came.<br /><br />“He was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit on Thursday. He was suffering from chronic diseases,” All India Institute of Medical Sciences director R C Deka said.<br /><br />Singh, seen as a staunch loyalist of the Gandhi family but as a rebel to the then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, was chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for two terms, governor of Punjab and commerce and human resource minister at the Centre. He was the longest-serving HRD minister — for a period of nine years till 2009.<br /><br />The long-standing politician had his blackmarks in his career. He was allegedly involved in the Churhat lottery scandal as Madhya Pradesh chief minister and in hawala case. He was accused of having fled Bhopal on the fateful night of December 2, 1984, when the deadly gas leak from the Union Carbide factory occurred.<br /><br />The Rajput leader made a strong bid for prime minister’s post soon after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991 along with Sharad Pawar. <br /><br />Singh, who projected himself as a pro-minority leader and opposed reforms during Rao’s time, however, continued in the Cabinet despite the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. He had a strong dislike for Rao as prime minister.<br /><br />The Madhya Pradesh strongman formed his own party in 1995 but came back to the Congress in 1996 after the fall of the Congress party from power.<br /><br />The Madhya Pradesh leader’s influence in the Congress was on the wane in the last decade and Congress president Sonia Gandhi also started distancing from him. His clout in the MP politics declined as the party lost power to the BJP and new leaders emerged. He was in poor health for over five years.<br /><br />Singh was made HRD minister in the UPA I government but lost the ministership when the UPA came back to power in 2009. In between he started questioning the “coterie” around Sonia Gandhi.</p>
<p>A former Union minister, chief minister and governor, Arjun Singh, who made a strong bid to become prime minister in the 1990s, was admitted to hospital about two weeks ago. He was on life support system when the end came.<br /><br />“He was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit on Thursday. He was suffering from chronic diseases,” All India Institute of Medical Sciences director R C Deka said.<br /><br />Singh, seen as a staunch loyalist of the Gandhi family but as a rebel to the then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, was chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for two terms, governor of Punjab and commerce and human resource minister at the Centre. He was the longest-serving HRD minister — for a period of nine years till 2009.<br /><br />The long-standing politician had his blackmarks in his career. He was allegedly involved in the Churhat lottery scandal as Madhya Pradesh chief minister and in hawala case. He was accused of having fled Bhopal on the fateful night of December 2, 1984, when the deadly gas leak from the Union Carbide factory occurred.<br /><br />The Rajput leader made a strong bid for prime minister’s post soon after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991 along with Sharad Pawar. <br /><br />Singh, who projected himself as a pro-minority leader and opposed reforms during Rao’s time, however, continued in the Cabinet despite the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. He had a strong dislike for Rao as prime minister.<br /><br />The Madhya Pradesh strongman formed his own party in 1995 but came back to the Congress in 1996 after the fall of the Congress party from power.<br /><br />The Madhya Pradesh leader’s influence in the Congress was on the wane in the last decade and Congress president Sonia Gandhi also started distancing from him. His clout in the MP politics declined as the party lost power to the BJP and new leaders emerged. He was in poor health for over five years.<br /><br />Singh was made HRD minister in the UPA I government but lost the ministership when the UPA came back to power in 2009. In between he started questioning the “coterie” around Sonia Gandhi.</p>
