Former union minister Suresh Kalmadi passes away at 81

NEW DELHI: Suresh Kalmadi, a former union minister and senior Congress leader who participated in the Indo-Pak war twice, passed away. He was 81. He was undergoing treatment for a long time due to illness. His wife and children were besides him at the time of his death. He will be laid to rest at Vaikunth Crematorium in Navi Peth Tuesday evening.

Kalmadi, who participated in the Indo-Pak war twice as an IAF pilot, has been awarded eight service medals. He started his career in the IAF as a pilot in 1964. He entered the political mainstream in 1978 as the president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress. He was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1982. He later became a member of the Lok Sabha in 1996.

He was the minister of state for railways in the union government led by P V Narasimha Rao. Kalmadi also holds the record of being the only minister of state to present the railway budget. He also became the president of the Indian Olympic Association, the Asian Athletic Association and the Athletic Federation of India. He organized the first Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad in 2003. He was the chairman of the organizing committee of the Commonwealth Youth Games held in Pune in 2008.

Kalmadi's political career was stained by the 2010 Commonwealth Games corruption case. He was investigated for alleged misuse of funds and arrested in April 2011. He was suspended from the Congress following the allegations. He was recently given a clean chit by a Delhi court in the case.