Senior Congress leader and sitting legislator in Himachal Pradesh, Sujan Singh Pathania passed away on Friday morning. He was 78. Pathania was a former Minister and sitting legislator from Fatehpur Assembly constituency in Kangra district. He died after a prolonged illness on Friday and will be cremated on Saturday.
Born on September 22, 1943 in Lahore (Pakistan), Pathania was elected seven times as an MLA.
Having served in the HP Forest Department as a range officer, he resigned from service to join Janata Party in 1977 and later became a member of the Congress party in 1980.
Pathania was elected to the state Assembly in 1977, re-elected in 1990, 1993, 2003, 2009 (by-election) from Jawali Assembly constituency and in 2012 and 2017 from Fatehpur Assembly constituency. Before delimitation in 2007, Fatehpur Assembly Constituency was known as Jawali.
Pathania remained MPP and Power Minister with additional charge of Non-Conventional Energy Sources, Agriculture from December 2012 to December 2017. Governor Bandaru Dattatraya and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur have expressed grief over the demise of Pathania.