Born in 1932, Kalyan Singh was first elected to the Uttar Pradesh legislative Assembly in 1967.
Highlights
- He was Uttar Pradesh CM twice, also served as Rajasthan Governor
- The senior BJP leader died due to sepsis and multi-organ failure
- He had been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Lucknow since July 4
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh died on Saturday in Lucknow due to sepsis and multi-organ failure. He was 89.
The senior BJP leader had been undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) in the Uttar Pradesh capital since July 4. On Friday, his condition deteriorated, following which he was placed on dialysis.
Last month, Prime Minister Modi had tweeted saying "countless people across India are praying for the speedy recovery of Kalyan Singh Ji".
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who visited Mr Singh in the hospital earlier on Saturday, also expressed his condolences, calling his death an irreparable loss. His government has declared three days of state mourning and a holiday on August 23 when Mr Singh's body will be cremated.
Former Chief Ministers Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, too, expressed their sadness on Twitter over his passing.
Mr Singh was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, twice -- June 1991 to December 1992 and September 1997 to November 1999. He also served as Governor of Rajasthan between 2014 and 2019.
His first term as Chief Minister is remembered for the demolition of the long-disputed Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. This incident sent shock waves across the country and is widely viewed as a milestone in modern India's socio-political history and in the rise of his party, the BJP.
Mr Singh resigned as Chief Minister immediately following the demolition while the then President Shankar Dayal Sharma also dismissed the Uttar Pradesh government on the same day. Along with other BJP stalwarts like LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, Mr Singh was charged with conspiracy over the incident.
Last year, a Lucknow court acquitted Mr Singh and others in the case. In a 2009 interview to NDTV, the senior politician vehemently denied any conspiracy behind the demolition.
"There was no conspiracy. It was an outpouring of the sentiments of crores of Hindus whose aspirations had been forcibly subdued for hundreds of years. We had made all security arrangements," he said.
"It is true that the structure came down despite it. I can only say that sometimes the security cannot match up. I was a strong Chief Minister despite what happened. I had made it clear that there will be no firing. If I had ordered firing, then thousands of people would have died. They were my orders to not fire."
Born in Atrauli town of Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district, he was first elected to the state legislature in 1967.