New Delhi, December 26: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the architect of India’s economic reforms, passed away on Thursday night at the age of 92. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, announced his death after he was admitted to the Emergency ward around 8:30 PM in critical condition.
An AIIMS bulletin stated that Singh was treated for age-related medical conditions and had experienced a sudden loss of consciousness at home on December 26. “Resuscitative measures were started immediately at home. He was brought to medical emergency at AIIMS Delhi at 8:06 PM. Despite all efforts, he could not be revived and was declared dead at 9:51 PM,” the bulletin said.
Singh, who served as Prime Minister for two terms in the Congress-led UPA government from 2004 to 2014, had been in poor health for the last few months. He is survived by his wife, Gurcharan Singh, and three daughters.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her mother Sonia Gandhi rushed to the hospital as soon as they learned of his hospitalization. Singh, who was the finance minister under then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, was the mastermind behind the economic reforms of 1991 that rescued India from the brink of bankruptcy and ushered in an era of economic liberalization, significantly altering the country’s economic trajectory.
Singh’s death occurred as the Congress party concluded its Congress Working Committee meeting in Belagavi, Karnataka, where all top party leaders were present. It is believed that party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are on their way to Delhi from Belagavi.
