Veteran Congress leader Mohsina Kidwai passes away at 94

New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Mohsina Kidwai, who held key ministerial portfolios under former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 94.

Kidwai, who was suffering from age-related ailments, breathed her last at Noida's Metro Hospital early in the morning, her son-in-law Razi Ur Rehman Kidwai said.

Kidwai was laid to rest at the graveyard in Nizamuddin this evening with former party chief Rahul Gandhi attending the last rites.

Earlier, top Congress leaders paid tributes to Kidwai and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge visited her house in Noida to express condolences to her family members.

Kharge said that her passing is a profound loss to the party and to the nation.

"Deeply saddened by the passing of Mohsina Kidwai ji, a stalwart of the Congress party and a former Union minister who dedicated over six decades of her life to the service of the nation," Kharge said on X.

"A long-serving Member of Parliament in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and a respected member of the Congress Working Committee for several years, she remained a guiding force within the party through its most challenging phases," the Congress chief said.

He expressed heartfelt condolences to her "family, friends and countless admirers" and wished that "her soul rest in eternal peace".

Rahul Gandhi also condoled Kidwai's demise and hailed her contribution to the party.

"The news of the passing of former Union minister and former Member of Parliament, Mohsina Kidwai Ji, is deeply saddening. She was a highly senior and loyal leader of the Congress party, whose entire life stood as an exemplar of public service," Gandhi said in an X post in Hindi.

"Through her simplicity, grace and dignified political success, she inspired generations of women across the country. In this hour of grief, I extend my deepest condolences to her bereaved family and supporters," he said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the party will miss the wisdom and guidance of the deceased leader.

"We will miss Mohsina Kidwai ji's wisdom and guidance. She was a trailblazer of her time. As one of the few women PCC presidents of Uttar Pradesh, she travelled to every corner of the state and built lasting relationships with Congress workers across the districts," Priyanka Gandhi said.

"Her courage, ideological commitment and patriotism were unquestioned. She was also a kind-hearted and compassionate person who lived a life of great dignity. My deepest condolences to her family. May they have the strength to bear this loss with courage," she posted in Hindi on X.

MP Shashi Tharoor hailed Kidwai as a titan of the Indian National Congress.

"Mourning the passing at age 94 of senior INC leader Mohsina Kidwai, whom I first knew as AICC general secretary for Kerala when I was fighting my first parliamentary election in 2009, and who was one of the signatories backing my presidential bid within the party in 2022," Tharoor said.

"With her passing, the Indian political landscape loses more than just a veteran leader; it loses one of its most graceful anchors. A titan of the Indian National Congress, Mohsina ji personified an era of politics defined by decorum, steadfast loyalty, and a quiet, formidable wisdom. While she was a quintessential representative of the Congress's Old Guard, Mohsina Kidwai was never merely a relic of the past," he said.

Kidwai has held important portfolios in the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi governments. She also served as a member of the Congress Working Committee and the party's Central Election Committee.

She holds a unique distinction of being a member of four Houses at different points in her life -- an MLC, MLA, and as an MP in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Kidwai's political career began in 1960 when she won a seat in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. She was just 28 years old then. In 1974, she became a member of the state assembly and, by the time she won an election to Parliament in 1978, she had already been a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government for about five years.

Her rise in national politics began with her victory in the 1978 by-election for the Azamgarh parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Following the Emergency and the Congress's ouster from power, this bypoll victory not only propelled her to the centrestage of national politics but also gave the Congress a new lease of life.

It was not long before Indira Gandhi, by then back as prime minister, appointed her a member of her council of ministers in the early 1980s.

For Kidwai, that was the beginning of a series of key assignments in the Central government -- holding several portfolios, including labour, health and family welfare, rural development, transport and urban development -- first under Indira Gandhi and then under Rajiv Gandhi, as she gained the trust of both the mother and son.

After several stints in the Lok Sabha, Kidwai entered Rajya Sabha in 2004. She continued to hold her seat in the Upper House well into her eighties.

Interestingly, she was also in the news during the 2022 Congress presidential election when she emerged as one of the proposers to Tharoor's candidature. Tharoor had lost to Kharge in that election.

In 2022, she also released her memoir "My Life in Indian Politics", which captured the ups and downs of her political life.