Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kairana MP Hukum Singh, who had started his political career with the Congress in 1974, died at a Noida hospital on Saturday night after a prolonged illness. He was 79.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Rajnath Singh, UP governor Ram Naik, West Bengal governor Keshnri Nath Tripathi, Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and state minister Suresh Rana expressed deep shock at the passing away of the veteran leader.
“He served the people of UP with great diligence and worked for the welfare of farmers,” the PM said in his tweet.
Before joining politics, he was an ex-army captain, who had served in the India-Pakistan war, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath said while recalling the late leader’s contribution.
Adityanath called him a leader who would always be remembered for his knowledge of Parliamentary rules and procedure.
“In his death, the party has lost a committed leader and the people have lost a man who always raised people’s issues,” Adityanath said.
Before being elected MP from Kairana in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Singh had been a seven-term MLA from west UP during the course of which he served as minister both in Congress and BJP governments. In the run up to the 2017 UP polls, Hukum Singh had stirred up a hornet’s nest with his claim in June 2016 that 346 Hindu families had been forced to migrate from western UP due to threat from criminals and the poor law and order situation.
{{/usCountry}}Before being elected MP from Kairana in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Singh had been a seven-term MLA from west UP during the course of which he served as minister both in Congress and BJP governments. In the run up to the 2017 UP polls, Hukum Singh had stirred up a hornet’s nest with his claim in June 2016 that 346 Hindu families had been forced to migrate from western UP due to threat from criminals and the poor law and order situation.
{{/usCountry}}The BJP quickly made it into a poll issue and party also mentioned it in its UP manifesto.
During Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013, a case was registered against him for allegedly attending a mahapanchayat and making an inflammatory speech. He strongly denied the allegation and claimed that he tried to cool tempers instead of inciting people.