Veteran Samajwadi Party leader Hari Shankar Tiwari passes away at 90

Former politician and East UP minister Hari Shankar Tiwari passed away last night at 90. His last rites will be performed at Mukti Path in Barhalganj town of Gorakhpur district on Wednesday.

Veteran politician and ex-UP minister passed away Tuesday night at the age of 90 at his residence in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.

According to some sources, he was suffering from some acute diseases, including kidney problems for the last some years. After the demise of the Veteran SP minister, his son Vinay Shakar Tiwari informed that his father's last rites will be performed at Mukti Path in Barhalganj town of Gorakhpur district on Wednesday.

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, expressing grief over the demise of the veteran leader. He tweeted in Hindi, translated into English, "Former Minister Mr Harishankar Tiwari passes away, very sad! May God grant peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family to bear this immense sorrow. Heartfelt tribute!"

Who was Hari Shankar Tiwari?

Born in Barhalganj town Uttar Pradesh in 1933, Hari Shankar Tiwari was an Indian politician from Samajwadi Party.

After completing his formal education, he became a railway contractor and developed a strong image as an emerging Brahmin leader of eastern Uttar Pradesh.

In 1997, he founded his party, Akhil Bhartiya Loktantrik Congress, along with Jagdambika Pal, Rajeev Shukla, Shyam Sunder Sharma and Bacha Pathak.

He was the cabinet minister from 1997 to 2007 in different governments, from Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta, Rajnath Singh, Mayawati, to Mulayam Singh Yadav-led governments.

Tiwari established himself as a leader of Brahmins. His elder son, Bhishma Shankar Tiwari, is also an MLA from the Sant Kabir Nagar constituency, and his younger son Vinay Shankar Tiwari represented his father's traditional seat Chillupar in the last UP assembly from 2017 to 2022 from BSP.