Union%20Minister%20and%20Lok%20Janshakti%20Party%20%28LJP%29%20patriarch%20Ram%20Vilas%20Paswan%2C%20who%20recently%20underwent%20a%20heart%20surgery%2C%20died%20in%20a%20Delhi%20hospital%20this%20evening.%20He%20was%20battling%20serious%20health%20issues%20for%20close%20to%20year%20and%20was%20hospitalised%20a%20fortnight%20ago%20following%20complications.

Mr%20Paswan%20rose%20to%20prominence%20during%20the%20anti-Congress%20movement%20in%20Bihar%20and%20came%20to%20play%20a%20significant%20role%20at%20both%20the%20state%20as%20well%20as%20national%20level.%20He%20was%20a%20tireless%20champion%20of%20the%20cause%20of%20the%20Dalit%u2019s%20and%20minorities%20and%20was%20considered%20one%20of%20the%20main%20players%20behind%20the%20VP%20Singh-led%20United%20Front%20%28UF%29%20government%27s%20decision%20to%20implement%20the%20Mandal%20commission.%26nbsp%3B

Over%20the%20course%20of%20his%20long%20political%20career%2C%20he%20straddled%20many%20political%20avatars%20and%20switched%20alliances.%20During%20the%20UF%20days%20he%20was%20a%20trenchant%20critic%20of%20the%20Bharatiya%20Janata%20Party%20%28BJP%29%20and%20the%20Sangh%20Parivar%20but%20was%20quick%20to%20join%20the%20Atal%20Bihari%20Vajpayee-led%20NDA%20government%20in%201999.

He%20crossed%20the%20political%20divide%20to%20team%20up%20with%20the%20Congress%20and%20like-minded%20parties%20in%20the%20UPA%20only%20to%20return%20back%20to%20the%20NDA%20in%202014.%20Despite%20his%20shifting%20allegiances%20and%20alliances%20he%20remained%20grounded%2C%20earthy%20and%20humble%20to%20the%20very%20end.

Courteous%20to%20a%20fault%2C%20he%20never%20forgot%20old%20friends%20and%20associates%20even%20when%20in%20power.%20My%20last%20meeting%20with%20him%20was%20couple%20of%20months%20ago%2C%20he%20didn%u2019t%20look%20too%20well%20but%20made%20light%20of%20it%20saying%20it%20was%20just%20his%20age%20catching%20up.%26nbsp%3B

I%20remember%20once%20travelling%20with%20him%20on%20a%20train%20to%20Uttar%20Pradesh.%20I%20woke%20up%20to%20the%20sight%20of%20Mr%20Paswan%20walking%20up%20and%20down%20the%20corridor%20and%20doing%20some%20spot%20jogging.%20He%20even%20gently%20chided%20some%20of%20us%20for%20taking%20our%20health%20for%20granted.

Like%20many%20of%20his%20generation%2C%20Mr%20Paswan%20had%20excellent%20relations%20cutting%20across%20the%20political%20spectrum.%20Even%20though%20he%20was%20a%20senior%20minister%20in%20the%20Union%20Government%20he%20shared%20an%20excellent%20rapport%20with%20Sonia%20Gandhi%2C%20the%20Congress%20President%2C%20and%20even%20with%20leaders%20from%20the%20left%20parties.%26nbsp%3B

His%20death%20coming%20as%20it%20does%20on%20the%20eve%20of%20the%20Bihar%20assembly%20elections%20is%20bound%20to%20have%20an%20impact%20on%20the%20hustling%2C%20specially%20at%20a%20time%20when%20his%20son%20Chirag%20Paswan%20deciding%20to%20part%20ways%20with%20the%20Janata%20Dal%20%28United%29.

During%20the%20last%20assembly%20elections%20in%20Bihar%20I%20spent%20a%20day%20a%20travelling%20with%20him%20on%20his%20chopper.%20He%20was%20a%20tireless%20campaigner.%20He%20would%20try%20and%20nap%20in%20the%20chopper%20while%20travelling%20from%20one%20meeting%20to%20another%2C%20but%20the%20moment%20he%20set%20sight%20on%20a%20crowd%20his%20eye%20would%20light%20up%20and%20there%20use%20to%20be%20a%20spring%20in%20step%2C%20he%20would%20suddenly%20find%20his%20voice.%26nbsp%3B

%u201CCrowds%20are%20like%20oxygen%20%2C%20the%20moment%20I%20see%20them%20I%20get%20new%20energy%2C%u201D%20he%20told%20me.

Mr%20Paswan%20was%20a%20significant%20player%20in%20national%20politics%20and%20throughout%20the%20time%20that%20he%20was%20a%20minister%20he%20never%20forget%20his%20humble%20beginnings.%20He%20would%20often%20talk%20of%20his%20parents%2C%20their%20humble%20backgrounds%20and%20the%20huge%20difficulties%20that%20they%20surmounted%20in%20bringing%20up%20the%20children.%26nbsp%3B

%u201CThe%20biggest%20mistake%20people%20mistake%20is%20to%20forget%20their%20roots%20and%20get%20carried%20away%20by%20the%20power%20and%20the%20glamour%2C%u201D%20he%20used%20to%20say.%26nbsp%3B

This%20was%20not%20something%20even%20his%20detractors%20could%20say%20about%20him.%20He%20remained%20humble%20and%20grounded%20till%20the%20very%20end.

%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23RamvilasPaswan%22%20data-user-id%3D%22fGOxjHjtvCuU%22%20href%3D%22/topic/ramvilas-paswan%22%3E%23RamvilasPaswan%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23Bihar%22%20data-user-id%3D%22TX0XR8BClWRB%22%20href%3D%22/topic/bihar%22%3E%23Bihar%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23LJP%22%20data-user-id%3D%22NwGie04JN9IM%22%20href%3D%22/topic/ljp%22%3E%23LJP%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23BJP%22%20data-user-id%3D%22cqfihWqpWO59%22%20href%3D%22/topic/bjp%22%3E%23BJP%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23JDU%22%20data-user-id%3D%22BtQvJfoWzbH1%22%20href%3D%22/topic/jdu%22%3E%23JDU%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23Congress%22%20data-user-id%3D%22KGrnteP5qPtc%22%20href%3D%22/topic/congress%22%3E%23Congress%3C/a%3E%26nbsp%3B

%26nbsp%3B