New Delhi: Union minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Lok Janshakti Party patron Ram Vilas Paswan passed away on Thursday, his son Chirag Paswan said.
The Union minister was in a critical condition with multiple organ complications.
His death came just days after his son and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan decided to go solo in the Bihar assembly polls.
"Papa, you are no more in this world but I know you are with me wherever you are. Miss you papa, Chirag tweeted.
According to his close family members, Paswan breathed his last on Thursday evening at around 8:20pm at the Fortis Hospital in New Delhi.
Ram Vilas Paswan, 74, has been active in politics for more than five decades and is one of the country's most noted Dalit leaders. He has been hospitalised for the last few weeks and had undergone a heart surgery on Sunday.
Paswan has served as a Union Minister under five prime ministers and his party has been a member of all national coalitions.
A stalwart of the socialist movement who later emerged as Bihar's foremost Dalit leader with following across the country, Ram Vilas Paswan was instrumental in the implementation of the Mandal Commission report in the 1990s.
Condoling his demise, President Ram Nath Kovind said, "In the demise of Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, the nation has lost a visionary leader. He was among the most active and longest-serving members of parliament. He was the voice of the oppressed, and championed the cause of the marginalized.
Expressing grief at Paswan's demise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was saddened beyond words as his death has left a void in the nation that will perhaps never be filled.
"Shri Ram Vilas Paswan Ji's demise is a personal loss. I have lost a friend, valued colleague and someone who was extremely passionate to ensure every poor person leads a life of dignity," Modi said in his condolence message.
Born in Khagaria in 1946, Paswan was selected as a police official but chose the calling of politics and became an MLA for the first time in 1969 on a Samyukta Socialist Party ticket.
He was elected to Lok Sabha eight times and also held the record of winning his constituency, Hajipur, with the highest margin for several years.
Always at the forefront of raising issues concerning the disadvantaged sections of society, he was also a skilful grassroots politician who enjoyed good equations with leaders across the spectrum, and his dedicated following in his state ensured that every national party courted him in his over five decades of career.
He was a minister in central governments headed by parties of contrasting ideological persuasions, ranging from the Janata Dal to the Congress and the BJP, since 1989.
Whoever might be his ally, he took pride in describing himself as a socialist and secular politician by conviction.
