Congress leader Hira Singh Bisht no more

Senior Congress leader and former cabinet minister Hira Singh Bisht (85) passed away following a cardiac arrest past Saturday midnight. Leaders across party lines expressed grief at his demise. Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami paid respects to his moral remains at his Doon residence. Dhami said that Bisht will always be remembered for the work he did for the welfare of the people. The Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge stated in a post on X, “”Bisht dedicated his entire life to struggling for the rights of the poor, labourers, employees, and the deprived sections of society. This is an irreparable loss for the Congress family.” Pradesh Congress Committee president Ganesh Godiyal and other Congress leaders visited his residence to pay tributes. Godiyal said that Bisht was a popular leader who raised the voice of the poor, labourers, employees, and the deprived. Born on November 4, 1940, Bisht began his political career in undivided Uttar Pradesh. He was among the Congress leaders who played an active role both before and after the formation of Uttarakhand. A three-time MLA, he was first elected in 1985 from the then Dehradun Assembly constituency. After the formation of Uttarakhand State, he won the Rajpur Road Assembly seat in 2002 and was elected to the Vidhan Sabha once again after winning the Doiwala by-election in 2014.

In the government led by the then chief minister Narayan Datt Tiwari in Uttarakhand, Bisht was the Transport and Labour minister.