Veteran politician ND Tiwari dies aged 93
Former Uttarakhand and UP chief minister was also union minister
New Delhi: Former Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Chief Minister N.D. Tiwari died on Thursday — on his 93rd birthday — in the capital, at a private hospital following prolonged illness, doctors said.
Suffering from renal and age-related problems, the former Union Minister passed away at 3pm at Max Hospital in Saket. He is survived by his wife Ujjwala and son Rohit Shekhar.
Tiwari is the only politician to have served as chief minister of two states. He was in hospital since September last year, and in and out of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) since July this year.
Born on October 18, 1925 in Nainital, he was a three-time chief minister of the undivided Uttar Pradesh — 1976-77, 1984-85, and from 1988-89. He also served as chief minister of Uttarakhand from 2002-2007.
He served as union minister in the Chaudhary Charan Singh government and later in then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet, holding key portfolios including finance and external affairs.
Appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh in 2007, Tiwari subsequently stepped down from the post in 2009, after his involvement in a sex scandal.
He became an MLA from Nainital constituency in the first election after independence in 1952. He joined Congress and 1963 and later quit the party in 1994 to form his own All India Indira Congress (Tiwari). He rejoined the grand old party in 1996.
In January 2017, he had met BJP President Amit Shah and extended support to the BJP, but did not formally join it.
Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among a host of political leaders who condoled Tiwari’s death.
Kovind, in his message, hailed Tiwari’s contribution to the development and public welfare of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. “A towering leader, he was known for his administrative skills. He will be remembered for his efforts towards industrial growth and working for the progress of UP and Uttarakhand, a state he steered in its initial days,” tweeted Modi.
Shah, in his message, said Tiwari’s death was an irreparable loss to Indian politics.
“Today, we mourn the loss of one of our strongest leaders,” the Congress tweeted.