Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Manohar Singh Gill, 86, passed away on Sunday at a south Delhi hospital after a brief illness.
Mr. Gill served as a Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs as well as Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation in the Manmohan Singh government.
He will be cremated here on Monday.
He is survived by his wife and three daughters.
A former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Punjab cadre, Mr. Gill served as the CEC between December 1996 and June 2001. He, along with G.V.G. Krishnamurty, joined the poll panel when the Election Commission became a multi-member body. Then, the poll panel was headed by T.N. Seshan.
Mr. Gill was also a recipient of Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award.
He is perhaps the first former CEC to have joined politics as he was elected to the Rajya Sabha on a Congress ticket in 2004 and went on to become the Union Sports Minister in 2008.
“Extremely saddened at the passing away of former Union Minister, Padma Vibhushan, Shri Manohar Singh Gill ji,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X. “As a valued colleague in the UPA govt and earlier as a civil servant, his contributions to the development of the nation in varied fields like sports, electoral processes and agriculture were long lasting,” he added.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh as well as the current Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, also expressed their condolences. “He was a great son of Punjab, and his dedication and services to the agriculture sector in the State will always be remembered,” Mr. Bajwa said in a post on X.