Veteran Congress leader Buta Singh, the party’s key trouble-shooter in Punjab in the immediate aftermath of Operation Blue Star, died here on Saturday. He was 86.
Singh, an eight-term Lok Sabha member and a former union home minister, had suffered brain haemorrhage and admitted to AIIMS in October last year. He had slipped into a coma since then.
“My father Buta Singh passed away this (Saturday) morning. May Wahe Guru bless him,” Singh’s son Arvinder Singh Lovely Sidhu said.
Singh began his political career by winning the Lok Sabha elections in 1962, and shifted to Jalore in Rajasthan in 1984 to escape the ire of Sikhs for his role in supporting Operation Bluestar. He was re-admitted to the community after he tendered an apology and carried out the punishment given by the Akal Takht.
A loyalist of the Gandhi family, Singh held key portfolios in the governments of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao as well as H D Deve Gowda. He was appointed as the Governor of Bihar in 2004, when the UPA came to power, and played a controversial role in the dissolution of the Bihar assembly, within three months of election results, that had given a fractured mandate.
Buta Singh was tasked with the re-construction of Akal Takht by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi after its destruction in Operation Blue Star in 1984, but the outraged Sikh community ex-communicated him.
The high priests of the Sikhs also ordered the demolition of the Akal Takht built by the government and built it again through community service.
Singh was involved in choosing the Congress's new poll symbol "hand" after the party split in 1978.
He was very closely associated with Indira Gandhi during Operation Blue Star and as a minister, oversaw the reconstruction of the Golden Temple in Punjab's Amritsar following the Army operation.
President Ram Nath Kovind said the country had lost one of the longest-serving parliamentarians with rich administrative experience.
"In the passing of Shri Buta Singh, the country has lost one of the longest serving parliamentarians with rich administrative experience. He championed the cause of the oppressed and marginalized. Condolences to his family and supporters," Kovind said in a tweet.
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"Saddened to learn about the passing away of Shri Buta Singh Ji. He was an able administrator & parliamentarian. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved family members. Om Shanti!" Vice President Venkaiah Naidu wrote on Twitter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi remembered Singh as an “experienced administrator” and an effective voice for the welfare of the poor and the downtrodden.
"Shri Buta Singh Ji was an experienced administrator and effective voice for the welfare of the poor as well as downtrodden. Saddened by his passing away. My condolences to his family and supporters," the prime minister tweeted.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, "Shri Buta Singh ji dedicated his life serving poor and downtrodden. He served the nation in several capacities. Pained by his demise. Condolences to his family and supporters. Om Shanti."
Tributes also poured in from Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Ashok Gehlot, Amarinder Singh and Kuldeep Bishnoi as well as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.