Senior Congress leader Chaudhary Jagjit Singh passes away

JALANDHAR: Senior Congress leader and former Punjab minister Chaudhary Jagjit Singh died of a heart attack this morning at a hospital here.

He was 82.

Congress leader Virendra Sharma told PTI that Jagjit Singh began to sweat and complained of chest pain around 5 AM following which he was taken to a private hospital where he passed away.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.

Jagjit, a prominent Dalit leader, became an MLA for the first time in 1980.

A five-time party MLA, he was Local Bodies minister in Captain Amarinder Singh's government between 2002 to 2007. He was also leader of the opposition in Punjab Assembly once.

Jagjit's younger brother Santokh Singh Chaudhary is the Congress MP from Jalandhar.