New Delhi. Former Foreign Minister K. Natwar Singh died on Saturday, August 11. He was 95 years old and was hospitalised for nearly two weeks at a clinic in Gurugram, near New Delhi. A former Congress MP, Natwar Singh served as India’s Foreign Minister for the period 2004-05 during the UPA-I government led by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Natwar Singh was born in 1931 in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. A family source told PTI late Saturday night, “Natwar Singh’s son is in hospital and several other family members are coming to Delhi from his native state for the last rites to be held in Delhi on Sunday. He was not well for some time.” The source said that he died late Saturday night.
While serving as Foreign Minister, Natwar Singh had to resign from the UPA-1 government in 2005 in the wake of the ‘Iraqi oil for grain’ scam. Natwar Singh, who was considered close to the Gandhi family, left the Congress in 2008.
Natwar Singh also served as ambassador to Pakistan and was attached to the office of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from 1966 to 1971. He was also awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1984. Singh also wrote several books including his autobiography ‘One Life is Not Enough’. His book created a stir in political circles.
In his autobiography One Life Is Not Enough, he created a sensation by claiming that in 2004, Sonia Gandhi did not assume the post of Prime Minister because of Rahul Gandhi. He wrote in the book, “Rahul Gandhi was adamant that Sonia Gandhi should not assume the post of Prime Minister under any circumstances because he was afraid that his mother Sonia Gandhi would also be killed like his father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi.”
This was completely contrary to Sonia Gandhi’s statement in which she had said that it was her ‘voice of conscience’ after listening to which she decided that she would not take up the post of Prime Minister. After the controversy over Natwar Singh’s autobiography, Sonia Gandhi also had to give clarification in which she had said that she would come out with her own book which would bring out the ‘truth’.
Tags: Manmohan Singh, Medanta Hospital, Sonia Gandhi
FIRST PUBLISHED : August 11, 2024, 02:53 IST