Former Union Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh Dies At 74

PATNA: Former union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh passed away at AIIMS, New Delhi. He was 74. Singh died around 11 am due to breathlessness and other complications. Singh had fallen critically ill late on Friday night and was put on a ventilator in ICU.

The former Union minister for rural development in the first term of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had resigned from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) days ago.

He is survived by his two sons and a daughter. His wife had died earlier. His body will be brought to Patna for performing the last rites.

Earlier in June he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted at AIIMS Patna. He was taken to AIIMS in the national capital recently following post-COVID-19 complications.

Known as the architect of India’s biggest welfare programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Singh represented Bihar’s Vaishali constituency in the Lok Sabha. He was also a long-time associate of former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Lalu Prasad tweeted in Hindi an emotional message soon after Singh’s death was confirmed. “Dear Raghuvansh Babu! What did you do? I told you the day before yesterday, you are not going anywhere. But you went so far. I am speechless. I am sad. Will miss you very much.”