Himachal Pradesh minister Karan Singh passes away

Himachal Ayurveda Minister Karan Singh passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi early today after a brief illness.

59-year-old Singh is survived by a wife and a son. His elder son had died in an accident in 2012.

The minister's body is being flown to Kullu where he would be cremated in the afternoon.

A scion of the Kullu Royal family and younger brother of BJP stalwart Maheshwar Singh, the former Raja of Kullu, Karan Singh was a three-time MLA and also served as a minister twice.

He was elected from the Banjar Assembly constituency thrice in 1990, 1998 and 2012. He won as a BJP candidate in 1990 and 1998 and served as minister of state for primary education in Dhumal government.

After being sidelined in the BJP, he joined the Congress ahead of the 2012 assembly elections and was elected from Banjar for the third time. He was inducted as a minister in the Virbhadra Singh cabinet in August 2015.

Chief minister Virbhadra Singh, former chief minister Shanta Kumar, Speaker of Vidhan Sabha, BBL Butail, ministers, MLAs and prominent leaders have expressed grief over the demise of Karan Singh.

-PTI