Six-time MP from Amritsar and Congress leader Raghunandan Lal Bhatia dies aged 100, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh condoles death

Raghunandan Lal Bhatia had also served as the governor of Kerala and Bihar.

File Photo (Credits: Twitter/@HardeepSPuri)

New Delhi: Raghunandan Lal Bhatia, a six-time MP from Amritsar and a Congress leader died aged 100, PTI news agency reported on Saturday (May 15, 2021). He breathed his last at a private hospital in Amritsar.

"Raghunandan Bhatia died at a private hospital on Friday night and he is survived by his son Ramesh Bhatia, daughter Saroj Munjal and younger brother JL Bhatia," PTI quoted family members as saying.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh condoled the death said, "Saddened to lose former Governor & Senior Congress Leader & six-time MP, Raghunandan Lal Bhatia Ji. My thoughts and prayers are with his family members in their hour of grief. May his soul rest in peace."

Saddened to lose former Governor & Senior Congress Leader & six-time MP, Raghunandan Lal Bhatia Ji. My thoughts and prayers are with his family members in their hour of grief. May his soul rest in peace. — Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) May 15, 2021

Bhatia was first elected to Lok Sabha in 1972 from the Amritsar parliamentary constituency and again re-elected from the same seat in the 1980, 1985, 1992, 1996 and 1999 elections as a member of the Indian National Congress.

He had served as the governor of Kerala from 2004 to 2008 and the governor of Bihar from 2008 to 2009. He was also the minister of state for external affairs in 1992.

Bhatia, as a senior member of the Congress, held various positions in the party, including the post of Punjab unit president and general secretary. 

(With agency inputs)