Cong leader Ghani Khan Chowdhury is no more

Veteran Congress leader and former union minister ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury died at a city nursing home this morning.

He was 79 and is survived by two siblings, Abu Hashem Khan Chowdhury and Ruby Noor, both legislators.

The veteran leader was on ventilatory support since April 3 after being diagnosed with renal complications.

A number of senior leaders including Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi and former PCC President Soumen Mitra rushed to the nursing home on hearing the news. Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee has left for Kolkata.

Chowdhury's body will be flown to his residence at Kotwali in Malda district at 7 am tomorrow.

The last rites would be conducted in the evening.

Chowdhury earned the rare distinction of being elected to the West Bengal Assembly six times, besides making it to the Lok Sabha eight times, between 1980 and 2004.

Known to his followers as 'Barkatda', Khan Chowdhury first became power minister in the SS Ray government in 1972, during which he ensured jobs to hundreds of unemployed youths in his home district of Malda.

In 1980, he was elected to the Lok Sabha and was selected by then prime minister Indira Gandhi to head the energy department.

From 1982-84, Khan Chowdhury was the Railway Minister and earned popularity for a number of zonal projects.