Former Union minister Jaswant Singh, a close associate of ex-prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, passed away on Sunday following a long spell of illness. He was 82.
Singh, a former Army officer, had been ill after a fall at his home in August 2014 and was admitted to the Army Research and Referral Hospital. He had been in and out of the hospital and was admitted again in June this year.
"It is with profound grief that we inform about the sad demise of Hon'ble Major Jaswant Singh (Retd), former Cabinet Minister of Government of India at 0655 hours on 27 September 2020. He was admitted on 25 Jun 2020 and being treated for Sepsis with Multiorgan Dysfunction Syndrome and effects of Severe Head Injury old (Optd) had a Cardiac arrest this morning," the hospital said in a statement. Despite the best efforts of the attending team of specialists to resuscitate him, he could not be revived and passed away, it added.
Singh, considered close to Vajpayee and veteran leader L K Advani, held defence, finance and external affairs portfolios in the Vajpayee government. He had fought the 2014 Lok Sabha election as an independent candidate after the BJP did not give him ticket, but lost.
Here's a list of key positions Jaswant Singh held:
1980 - Elected to Rajya Sabha
1986 - Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (2nd term)
1986–1989 – Member, Public Accounts Committee, Rajya Sabha
Member, Committee on Privileges, Rajya Sabha
Member, Committee on Public Undertakings, Rajya Sabha
1987 Member, Consultative Committee constituted under the Punjab State
1989–1991 - Legislature (Delegation of Powers) Act, 1987
1989 - Elected to 9th Lok Sabha from Jodhpur.
1991–1996 - Chairman, Estimate Committee
1991 - Re-elected to 10th Lok Sabha (2nd term) from Chittorgarh.
1991 - Chairman, Committee on Environment and Forests
1992 - Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee to enquire into Irregularities in Securities and Banking Transactions
1993 – Chairman, Committee on Energy
1996–97 – Re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (3rd term) from Chittorgarh.
May 1996 – Union Cabinet Minister, Finance
25 March 1998 – Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission
July 1998 – Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (3rd term)
December 1998 to December 2002 - Union Cabinet Minister, External Affairs
February to October 1999 - Union Cabinet Minister, Electronics (Simultaneous charge)
6 August to 13 October 1999 - Union Cabinet Minister, Surface Transport (Simultaneous charge)
15 October 1999 - Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (4th term)
January 2, 2000 to October 18, 2001 - Union Cabinet Minister, Defence (Simultaneous charges)
July 1, 2002 to May 21, 2004 - Minister of Finance & Company Affairs, Govt. of India
2004 - Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (5th term)
2004 - Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha
August 2004 to August 2006 – Member, Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests
August 2004 to May 2009 – Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Installation of Portraits/Statues of National Leaders and Parliamentarians in Parliament House Complex
August 2005 – Member, General Purposes Committee
2009 Re-elected to 15th Lok Sabha (4th term) from Darjiling.
September 10, 2009 - Member, Committee on Budget
January 1, 2010 - Member, Committee on Public Accounts
