Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) in Lucknow, passed away on Saturday. He breathed his last at 9.15 pm.

Singh was admitted on July 4 with sepsis and multi-organ failure. He was put on the life-saving support system. Several BJP leaders, including Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh visited the leader at the hospital this month. 

Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh
Kalyan SinghReuters

Singh's body has been brought to his Mall Avenue residence where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Cabinet colleagues paid tribuites to the departed soul. The body will be kept at the Vidhan Bhawan on Sunday before being taken to the party office. The cremation will be held at his hometown in Aligarh.

Earleir, Adityanath had tweeted the news of the veteran leader's demise. The state Cabinet is meeting later on Saturday night to mourn the death of Singh. A three-day state mourning has been announced in Uttar Pradesh and a holiday will be observed on Monday as a mark of respect to the departed leader.

Kalyan Singh was at the helm as UP chief minister when the Babri masjid was demolished in 1992. In several interviews, he said he was asked whether to order firing on kar sewaks or not but he refused to sign the order.

An RSS member since his school days, Kalyan Singh was a member of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the Janata Party and then the BJP. During his second stint as the chief minister, he left the BJP to form a new party, the Rashtriya Kranti Party. Later, he returned to the BJP fold.

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