BHOPAL: Former Madhya Pradesh minister and senior Congress leader Arif Aqueel passed away on Monday at the age of 72 in a private hospital in Bhopal after prolonged illness, family sources said.

Aqueel, who was elected from Bhopal North assembly seat six times in his long political career, is survived by his wife, three sons and one daughter.

He won as an Independent MLA for the first time in 1990 and later joined the Congress. He emerged victorious from Bhopal North seat in the 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018 assembly polls. However, he lost the polls from Bhopal North in 1993 as a Janata Dal supported candidate.

He was a prominent Muslim face of the party and was cabinet minister in the Congress governments led by Digvijaya Singh (1996-2003) and Kamal Nath (2018-2020).

Both Singh and Nath expressed grief at the death of Aqueel.