Former union minister Santosh Mohan Dev passes away

The Congress veteran was Heavy Industry Minister in the UPA-I government led by former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

"He passed away at 6.06 AM this morning," Dev's daughter and Congress MP Sushmita Dev told PTI from Silchar.

The seven-time Congress MP is survived by his wife and four daughters, including Sushmita.

Dev was first elected to the Parliament in 1980. Out of the seven term as the Lok Sabha MP, he has represented Silchar, Assam, five times and twice from Tripura.

Dev was the union minister of state for communications during 1986-1988 and the minister of state for home from 1988-1989.

He was also the union minister of state for steel (independent charge) in the PV Narasimha Rao government in 1991.