Former Union Minister of State for Home and two-time Karnal Lok Sabha MP Ishwar Dayal Swami died at a private hospital in Faridabad on Sunday. He was 90.
His wife Padma Swami had died six days ago at their Sector 13 residence in Karnal due to prolonged illness.
Suffering from heart ailment, Swami underwent a bypass surgery a week ago. He was admitted to the Metro Hospital on Saturday after he complained of breathlessness. He is survived by son, three daughters and grandchildren.
A bureaucrat-turned-politician, Swami contested and won his first Lok Sabha election in 1996. He was re-elected in 1999 and made Union Minister of State for Home in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s National Democratic Alliance government.
Cutting across party lines, political leaders in Haryana expressed their deepest condolences on his death. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that he was hurt by the news of Swami’s death and prayed for the peace of the departed soul.
Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, in a tweet, described the death of Mr. Swami as “his personal loss”. He said that Haryana had lost a true social worker in his death.
Swami’s family confirmed that the last rites would be performed around noon at Karnal.
State mourning
Haryana government has announced one-day state mourning for Swami. Flags on all government buildings will be put at half-mast.
