Former Union Minister Matang Sinh died in a hospital here on Thursday because of COVID-19 related complications.
He had tested positive on April 22 and was undergoing treatment.
A former Rajya Sabha member from Assam, the 58-year-old politician was a close aide of former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao.
He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1992 and served as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs from 1994 to 1998 in Rao’s government.
He was expelled in 1998 on disciplinary grounds after he had made controversial comments against party president Sonia Gandhi.
Not much known outside Assam, Mr. Sinh, who started as a coal businessman from Tinsukia in Upper Assam, introduced local satellite channels in the State by launching the Northeast Television or NETV in 2003.
In January 2015, Mr. Sinh was arrested by the CBI for his involvement in the mutli-crore Sharada Chit Fund scam.
