Former union minister Tapan Sikdar dead

Prime Minister Narendra Modi says Sikdar will be remembered for 'his years of dedicated public service'

BJP leader and former union minister Tapan Sikdar died at a hospital in Delhi early Monday following a cardiac arrest. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he will be remembered for "his years of dedicated public service".

Sikdar, 71, was unmarried.

"Tapan Sikdar ji's demise is extremely saddening. May his soul rest in peace," Modi said in a tweet.

He added: "Tapan Sikdar will be remembered for his rich contribution in building the BJP and his years of dedicated public service."

A patient of chronic renal failure, he was airlifted from Kolkata to Delhi and admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) May 29, two days after he was put on ventilator support at a private hospital in Kolkata.

One of the architects of the BJP's growth in 1990s in the state, Sikdar, a two-time Lok Sabha member, was a union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajapyee government from 1999 to 2004.

He unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls from Dum Dum Lok Sabha constituency this year.

BJP sources said his body would be taken to Kolkata Monday evening.