Former Union Minister and Pune MP Suresh Kalmadi died at a private hospital in Pune early on Tuesday following a prolonged illness, PTI quoted his family as saying. He was 81 years old.
Kalmadi, who had served as Union Minister of State for Railways and as president of the Indian Olympic Association, represented Pune for three terms in Parliament. He was credited with starting several developmental and cultural projects in the city.
Kalmadi was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1980 as a Congress (Secular) MP and was re-elected in 1986 and again in 1992.
He entered the Lok Sabha in 1996 and was re-elected in 2004 and 2009. He lost the 1998 Lok Sabha election as a Pune Vikas Aghadi candidate supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena.
Kalmadi was suspended from the Congress in 2011 after he was accused of corruption while handing out contracts for the Commonwealth Games held in Delhi in 2010. He was then the chairman of the CWG Organising Committee. He had been arrested in April 2011 and was granted bail about nine months later.
Kalmadi had been accused of giving out inflated contracts for the Games, including one worth Rs 141 crore to Swiss Timing for equipment. He had denied the allegations against him.
The Congress’s Pune spokesperson Ramesh Iyer told The Indian Express after his death that Kalmadi had been acquitted in most cases related to the alleged scam. “Only one case was pending,” he said.
Kalmadi is survived by his wife, two daughters, son and grandchildren.
According to his office, his mortal remains will be kept at Kalmadi House in the Erandwane area of Pune until 2 pm. The cremation will be held at Vaikunth crematorium in Navi Peth at 3.30 pm, ANI reported.
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