Former Union Minister and Senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday morning at Primus Hospital in New Delhi’s Chanakyapuri. He was 63.
The five-term MP from Mumbai North-East and North-West was on visit to Delhi to meet senior party leader Ahmed Patel and was supposed to return Mumbai on Wednesday evening.
He had served as the union minister of state for home affairs and minister of state for communications and information technology during UPA-2 regime from 2009 to 2011. He had resigned as minister in 2011 after he felt he was sidelined by shifting to comparatively insignificant portfolio during cabinet reshuffle. He was Mumbai Congress president for five years during 2003 to 2008.
In 2016, he had resigned as party member announcing that he was retiring from active politics. According to the sources, the resignation was triggered after his differences with the party leadership over the leadership in Mumbai unit. He later withdrew the resignation.
According to party sources in Mumbai he had no major ailment except sugar and blood pressure problems he was facing for the last few years. He had participated in Rajiv Ek Soch, the programme in remembrance of former prime minister late Rajiv Gandhi in his former constituency North East two days ago. He had delivered a speech for about half an hour in the programme.