A few more days and the not so good year 2020 will come to an end besides also marking the end of a decade. With a stretch of so many unfortunate events kicking off, the year 2020 wasn’t really kind to the majority. This year, the country also suffered the loss of some of the great leaders, who were known for their contribution in the political world.
Here’s a look at some of the noted politicians we’ve lost in 2020 and whose influence will be felt for many years to come.
Pranab Mukherjee
Pranab Mukherjee, a senior Congress leader, served as the 13th President of India from 2012-2017. During the COVID-19 pandemic, on August 10, 2020, Pranab Mukherjee announced on Twitter that he had tested positive for COVID-19 prior to a surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain. He was admitted to the hospital after accidentally slipping and falling in his bathroom. He was on ventilator support and in critical condition at the Army’s Research and Referral (R&R) hospital in Delhi.
Two days later, on August 13, the hospital announced that Mukherjee was in a a deep coma after he underwent brain surgery; however, his vital parameters remained stable. On August, 19, the hospital said in a statement his health condition had declined as he had developed a lung infection. Mukherjee died on 31 August 2020, aged 84, which was confirmed by his son Abhijit Mukherjee via Twitter. His death came after the attending hospital confirmed that his health had deteriorated early that day, stating that he had been in septic shock since a day earlier, which was caused by his lung infection.
Ram Vilas Paswan
The famous politician from Bihar and a Cabinet minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi government, Ram Vilas Paswan passed away on October 8, 2020 at the age of 74. His demise was confirmed by his son Chirag Paswan. Paswan had undergone heart surgery and was hospitalized for a few weeks prior to his death. He was cremated in Patna on October 10, 2020. His body was brought to Janardan Ghat in the Digha locality from his residence in Shri Krishna Puri, about 3 km away, for the last rites.
Ahmed Patel
Ahmed Patel was a Congress leader, MP and political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. He passed away on November 25, 2020 at the age of 71. He died due to multiple organ failure stemming from COVID-19. He had been admitted to the Medanta Hospital and was in the ICU upon being diagnosed with COVID-19. His son Faisal confirmed about his said through a tweet
During the UPA government regime between 2004 and 2014, Patel was one of the chief troubleshooters, coordinators and translators between the government and party.
In 2005, he had got Bharuch included as one of the first five districts to be covered under the then-launched Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, to boost electrification in the district. The Sardar Patel bridge to de-congest traffic between the twin cities of Bharuch and Ankleshwar has also been one of his contributions to the region.
Tarun Gogoi
Former Assam Chief Minister and Congress leader Tarun Gogoi, who had been battling for his life with COVID-19 complications, breathed his last on November 23, 2020. Gogoi was hospitalized on August 26, 2020, with COVID-19 symptoms and had been given a blood plasma transplant. He had recovered from COVID-19 and was discharged from the hospital after two months.
He had had multiple heart surgeries during the latter part of his second term as chief minister, including Bypass surgery, Aortic valve replacement, and a procedure to artificially enlarge the aorta at Mumbai’s Asian Heart Institute. He had additional surgery just before the election for his third term in 2011, to replace his Artificial cardiac pacemaker.
He went on to lead his party to a third term victory, recovering from these health issues.
Amar Singh
Former Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh died on August 1, 2020 due to kidney failure at the age of 64 in Singapore. Born in 1956 in Azamgarh, Singh was one of tho politicians who was known for having close links with noted Bollywood personalities. His prominence in Delhi surged when the UPA government was reduced to a minority after the Communist Party of India withdrew its support over the proposed Nuclear Accord with the United States. His Samajwadi Party pledged support to the UPA government with the support of its 39 members.
However, in 2010, he, along with close associate Jaya Prada, was expelled from the Samajwadi Party for anti-party activities. He floated his own party Rashtriya Lok Manch in 2011 and fielded candidates in 360 of the 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 2012 assembly polls. However his party did not win a single seat in these elections. He joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal party in March 2014, contested the general elections that year from Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh in 2014 Indian general election and lost.
In 2016, he was elected to Rajya Sabha with support from Samajwadi Party even after facing a stiff opposition from a section of the party including the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav. He was also reinstated as one of the general secretaries of the party in October 2016.
Lalji Tandon
Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon passed away on July 21, 2020 at Lucknow’s Medanta Hospital following a long illness. He was 85.
In May 2009, he was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from Lucknow by a margin of over 40,000 votes over Rita Bahuguna Joshi of Indian National Congress. The seat was earlier held by former BJP President Atal Bihari Vajpayee since 1991 for four consecutive terms. Despite enormous electoral spending, Akhilesh Das of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) polled third, trailing by 70,000 votes.
As a Governor of Bihar, he was praised for streamlining academic activities of the state universities. He was appointed as as the 22nd Governor of Madhya Pradesh in July 201, replacing Anandiben Patel.
He was considered close to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Prime Minister Modi said Tandon would be remembered for his untiring efforts to serve society, whereas Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described him as one of the tallest leaders of Uttar Pradesh.
Apart from these leaders, Veteran Congress leader Ramkrishna Dwivedi, former parliamentarian Gopinath Gajapati Narayan Deo, former Karnataka Governor TN Chaturvedi, Ajit Jogi, Bhanwar Lal Sharma, Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar, are among the names whose demise left a void in the political circuit.
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