Former Union Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has passed away on Sunday at the age of 74 at AIIMS, Delhi, days after he was admitted to the hospital. Singh had breathed his last at around 11 am on Sunday due to breathlessness and other complications. 

Raghuvansh Prasad Singh was a staunch loyalist of RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and the former had supported the latter on the political arena. Apart from state politics, he augmented his base on the national political stage after he became the Union Minister. 

He was part of the Union Cabinet of Manmohan Singh under the UPA regime and he was often called the architect of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). 

Raghuvansh Prasad Singh was the Union Minister of Rural Development in Manmohan Singh's cabinet during which the MGNREGA, which had guaranteed the right to work, was introduced.  He had faced a national setback in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls after he was defeated in the two consecutive elections from Vaishali constituency, Bihar. 

A few months ago, Singh had dissented against the RJD party when murmurs surfaced around the political grounds that mafia don turned politician Rama Singh, his rival in Vaishali constituency, had led Raghuvansh Prasad Singh to resign from the post of the national vice-president of the party. He opposed Rama Singh's entry into the party, however, he didn't give up the primary membership of the party at that time but he stayed away from the political affairs of the RJD party by citing his health issues. 

On Thursday, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had addressed to Lalu Prasad Yadav declaring that he has had enough. His handwritten note had circulated and went viral across social media and on the same day, RJD Chief had sent a letter to Singh from Ranchi in which he had made an emotional appeal for his three-decades-old companion not to leave the party. However, he had resigned from the RJD and raised speculations that he would be supporting Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the rival of RJD. 

He had been admitted at AIIMS, Delhi after he developed post-COVID complications and he health had deteriorated on Friday night he was put on ventilator support and moved to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). However, he had breathed his last on Sunday at the age of 74. According to the reports, the body of the deceased politician will be brought to Patna for the last rites. Singh was surviving by two sons and a daughter, while his wife had already passed away. 

The passing away of Raghuvansh Prasad Singh is tragic. An outstanding leader rooted to ground, Raghuvansh Babu was a true stalwart with phenomenal understanding of rural India. With his spartan and sagely lifestyle, he enriched public life. Condolences to his family & followers.

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) September 13, 2020

Upon knowing his demise, President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed their condolences to the deceased politician. The President said, "The passing away of Raghuvansh Prasad Singh is tragic. An outstanding leader rooted to ground, Raghuvansh Babu was a true stalwart with phenomenal understanding of rural India. With his spartan and sagely lifestyle, he enriched public life. Condolences to his family & followers." The Prime Minister said “Raghuvansh Prasad Singh’s death has left a deep void in Bihar and national politics".