New Delhi: Senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Ashok Singhal died at a hospital in Gurgaon near Delhi .
The 89-year-old leader was admitted to the Medanta Medicity Hospital in the city on November 13 in critical condition. He was suffering from respiratory problems for over a month.
The death of the 89-year-old Hindutva veteran was announced by Singhal’s deputy in the VHP – Praveen Togadia.
He was on life support system since Saturday evening.
Singhal has been suffering from respiratory and heart problems for the last one month. On October 20, Singhal was admitted to the hospital after he complained of chest pain in Allahabad. He was immediately flown to the city in an air ambulance. He was discharged on Thursday after he showed signs of improvement. He was again admitted late on Friday night.
Singhal was born in Agra. His father was a government official.Singhal has a Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Benaras Hindu University Institute of Technology in 1950.Having been in RSS since 1942, he became a full-time PRACAHARAK after graduation. He worked in various locations around Uttar Pradesh, becoming a prant pracharak for Delhi and Haryana. In 1980, he was deputed to the VHP, becoming its joint general secretary. In 1984, he became its general secretary and, later, the working president, a role in which he continued till 2011.
Singhal was a trained vocalist in Hindustani music .He studied under Pandit Omkarnath Thakur.
In a message posted on Twitter, PM Narendra Modi has said “The demise of Ashok Singhal ji is a deep personal loss. He was an institution in himself, whose life was centred around serving the nation.”
The VHP is an affiliate of the BJP’s ideological mentor the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the RSS.
Mr Singhal was at the forefront of the VHP’s campaign for a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992.
