Former Union Minister Rasheed Masood has passed away on Monday at the age of 73 due to the post-COVID-19 complications. He breathed his last at a private hospital in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, where he was getting treated. 

According to reports, Rasheed Masood had earlier tested positive for the COVID-19 viral infection and he was admitted for treatment for the disease on August 27. He later had recovered from the infection and days after his recovery, he had complained of a sore throat for the last two days and he was rushed to a private hospital in Roorkee. However, his health had deteriorated amid the treatment, the former minister has passed away on Monday morning at the age of 73. 

The hospital said that he had died due to multi-organ failure. The minister's nephew Imran Masood, who is a former MLA, said that Rasheed Masood was getting treated for COVID-19 in Delhi and he returned to Saharanpur after getting recovered. He was again moved to the hospital in Roorkee for post-COVID-19 complications and died on Monday. 

Rasheed Masood had been a five-time member of the Lok Sabha from Saharanpur and he was also elected to the Rajya Sabha for a few terms. Masood had played a significant role in the politics of the west Uttar Pradesh for decades. In his political career, he had been in various political parties including the Janata Dal, the Lok Dal, the Janata Party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal, the Samajwadi Party, and the Congress. 

He had served as the Union Minister of State for health (Independent charge) in the VP Singh government from April to November 1990. Born in Gangoh on August 15, 1947, Masood had started his political career by contesting from Nakur assembly seat in Saharanpur in 1975. He had lost in his first election and he went on to win the Lok Sabha seat on the Janata party in 1977. 

Rasheed Masood was also the candidate of the United National Progressive Alliance in the election for the Vice-President post in 2007 and he had finished in third and in 2013, he was spelled as a convict in an MBBS seat scam and was given a four-year jail term.