Kangra: Senior Congress leader and sitting legislature from Fatehpur Sujan Singh Pathania passed away early Friday morning.

Born in September, 1943 at Lahore (Pakistan), Pathania was elected to the state assembly seven times and also remained a minister in the previous Congress government.

He was first time elected to State Legislative Assembly in 1977 as Janta party nominee; re-elected in 1990, 1993, 2003 November, 2009 (by- election) from Jawali Assembly Constituency and in 2012 from Fatehpur Assembly Constituency. Before delimitation in 2007 Fatehpur Assembly Constituency was known as Jawali.

Pathania remained Vice-Chairman: State Forest Corporation, 1982-83, State Housing Board, 1984-85; Minister of State for Agriculture (Independent charge), 1995-98; and Transport Minister, August 2007 to December 2007 ; Member, Estimates and Public Administration Committees . November 2009 to December 2012; and MPP & Power Minister with additional charge of Non-Conventional Energy Sources, Agriculture, December, 2012 to 20th December 2017.

He was re-elected to the thirteenth Vidhan Sabha (7th term) in December, 2017 and nominated as Member Public Accounts and Human Development Committees.

Prior joining active politics, Sujan Singh Pathania had served in H.P. Forest Department as Range Officer and resigned from service to join Janata Party in 1977. In 1980 Pathania joined Congress (I).

As per information Sujjan Singh Pathania was not keeping well for the past three years.