Sriprakash Jaiswal Dies at 81: Former Union Minister and Congress Leader Passes Away

Former Union minister and veteran Congress leader Sriprakash Jaiswal died on Friday following a cardiac arrest. He was 81. Jaiswal was first taken to a local nursing home in Kidwai Nagar this evening after his condition worsened and then shifted to the Cardiology Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Sriprakash Jaiswal’s political career started with becoming the mayor of the Kanpur city back in 1989. A dominant political figure in the Kanpur region, he won the Lok Sabha election from the constituency consecutively in 1999, 2004, and 2009. Jaiswal then went on to serve in the Congress-led UPA government under Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh where he held the portfolio of Minister of State for Home Affairs from May 2004 to May 2009. He was later elevated to a Cabinet member, serving as the Union Minister of Coal from January 2011 until the end of the term in May 2014. He also held the position of the President of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) from 2000 to 2002.