Ram Vilas Paswan, elected as an MLA in 1969 at the age of 23, died in a Delhi hospital on Thursday. Son Chirag Paswan announced the news on his official Twitter account. “Papa, you are not with us anymore,” tweeted son Chirag.

Paswan was considered one of the most important people in the era as a member of the trio, comprising of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar and him.

Paswan qualified for a job as DySp and was elected as an MLA in 1969. He was a well-qualified politician, having an MA and LLB degree.

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He was a shrewd politician whose favourite indoor game was chess. For his political fortune-telling, he was called a ‘Mausam Vaigyanik’, a term first used by Lalu Prasad. Paswan also enjoyed good relations with the party ruling at the Centre.

He first became a member of parliament in 1977 by a record margin of 4,24,545 votes at that time. He went on to win the Lok Sabha election for the 9th term and later became a member of Rajya Sabha.

In his 3rd term as an MP, Lok Sabha he became Union Cabinet Minister, Labour and Welfare for the first time. The last profile that he held was of Union Cabinet Minister, Consumer Affair, Food & Public Distribution.

A man, who loved to travel, Ram Vilas Paswan, had a penchant for food. And before every sumptuous meal, he would go for a strenuous exercise session.