Former Union Minister Akhilesh Das Gupta dies of heart attack

Congress veteran Akhilesh Das Gupta passes away after heart attack

Former Union Minister Akhilesh Das Gupta passed away on Wednesday after suffering a heart attack.

Akhilesh Das was the Minister of State for Steel in the UPA-I government. He also served as a mayor of Lucknow and also held many posts in the Congress for nearly two decades.

A former badminton player, Akhilesh Das was also the chairman of the Badminton Association of India (BAI).

Son of freedom fighter Late Babu Banarasi Das, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Das held the post of Member of Parliament (MP) for 18 years serving three consecutive terms of six years each from November 1996 to November 2014.

He also had stakes in real estate, media and several educational institutions, including a university named after his father in Lucknow and other cities.

In 2012, Gupta had become the Badminton Association of India (BAI) president after the arrest of former chief V K Verma over corruption charges in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

He was unanimously re-elected for a four-year term in 2014.

Last year, he was also elected the vice-president of the Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC) for a four year term.

Under his tenure, India bagged the rights to host marquee BWF events like the 2014 Thomas/Uber Cup and the Super Series, while Syed Modi international was upgraded to a Grand Prix gold status.

He was also instrumental in launching and organising the the cash-rich Indian Badminton League in August 2013, which was later rechristened to Premier Badminton League in 2015.