Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma died on Saturday in a road accident in Alwar district of Rajasthan, nearly 165 kms from Jaipur.
Additional Superintendent of Police (rural) P C Nyola said the mishap took place at around 1430 hrs (IST) when the car in which Verma was travelling collided with a mini-truck near Khandura crossing.
Verma (64), along with three others, was immediately rushed to the Shahjahanpur Government Hospital where the former Delhi CM, his driver and another person travelling in the same car were declared brought dead, the addl SP said.
His security officer sustained serious injuries and was undergoing treatment at the hospital, police said.
The driver of the truck was also injured and has been admitted to a local hospital.
Verma was returning to Delhi from Neemka Thana in Sikar district when the mishap took place.
Verma is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters.
Born on March 15, 1943, in Delhi's Mundka village, the former teacher rose from the ranks of a councillor in the Metropolitan Council of Delhi in 1977 to become the Union
Labour Minister in 2002.
His stint as the Chief Minister of Delhi was marked by his running feud with arch-rival in Delhi politics Madan Lal Khurana.
The Jat leader had replaced Khurana as Chief Minister in 1996. His tenure was marked by skyrocketing onion prices and water and power crises and he was replaced by Sushma Swaraj in October, 1998. Verma was accommodated in the Union Cabinet.
The Member of Parliament from Outer Delhi Lok Sabha constituency was given charge of the labour ministry.
Described by some senior bureaucrats as the "bull in a China shop", Verma openly reprimanded them for expressing reservations about his decision to stick to the 9.5 per cent interest rate for employees provident fund contributions.
Verma began his political career as a RSS Pracharak and was made the Delhi Education and Development Minister in 1993.
He had a doctorate in library sciences and was much respected among the teaching community.
BJP leaders express shock
Senior BJP leaders expressed shock at the death of Sahib Singh Verma and mourned his demise, recalling his contribution to the cause of labourers and farmers.
BJP chief Rajnath Singh said it is an irreparable loss.
"He was not only popular in Delhi but in many parts of the country because he championed the cause of the farmers, labourers and the unorganised sector," Singh, who rushed to the accident scene, said.
Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha said, "It is very difficult to believe that he is no longer with us. I would not be able to recover from this shock for a long time. He will be missed not only in Delhi but all over the country as he was a national leader."
Senior party leader Ravishankar Prasad described Verma's death as a great loss to the party.
"We are very disturbed. This is very ghastly news," Prasad said.
