Mr Singh was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the national capital some days ago, suffering chest pain and neuro problems. According to hospital sources, he complained of difficulty in breathing at about 5.30pm. He suffered a heart attack and breathed his last at about 6.15pm.He leaves wife Saroj Devi, two sons- Ajay Singh and Abhimanyu - and daughter Veena.
Born in Churhat, in the Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh, in November 1930, Mr Singh studied law. He entered politics to become a member of the Madhya Pradesh assembly in 1957, continuing till 1985.
Arjun Singh was the Union Minister of Human Resource Development in the Manmohan Singh cabinet from 2004 to 2009. He belongs to the Churhat Jagir under ex-Princely State of Rewa, Madhya Pradesh.He was a minister in the PV Narasimha Rao cabinet but he resigned after the Babri Masjid demolition.At the time, he formed the All India Indira Congress along with Narayan Dutt Tiwari, former union minister and ex-CM of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand as President, but he lost in the 1996 Loksabha elections from Satna in Madhya Pradesh.
Later he returned to Congress and lost again from Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh. He served as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh three times, union minister and Governor of Punjab once for a short period. He was awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for 2000.
He has been in the news of late due to controversy regarding the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, during which he was the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. He was today dropped from the Congress Working Committee (CWC), and was made a Permanent Invitee.