Former Uttarakhand, UP Chief Minister N. D. Tiwari dead

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N D Tiwari (File Photo: IANS).

Former Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Chief Minister N.D. Tiwari died on Thursday — on his 93rd birthday — in the national capital at a private hospital following prolonged illness, doctors said.

Suffering from renal and old-age problems, the former Union Minister passed away at 3 p.m. 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 was in and out of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) since July this year.

Born on October 18, 1925 in Nainital, he was thrice Chief Minister of the undivided Uttar Pradesh — 1976-77, 1984-85, and from 1988-89. He served as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from 2002-2007.

He also 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 over 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.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among a host of political leaders condoling Tiwari’s death.

Kovind in his message hailed Tiwari’s contribution to 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 & 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.

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