The president of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Ram Vilas Paswan died on Thursday, October 8, of a heart failure in New Delhi. On September 11, he was admitted into Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi with cardiac issues and renal complications. As his condition deteriorated, he was shifted onto a ventilator and died at the age of 74 on Thursday.

Paswan was the cabinet minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. Apart from being the president of LJP, he had also been a nine-time member in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. He served as the Minister of Communications and Information Technology from 1999-2001.

In 2000, he formed the Lok Janshkati Party as the president, after he broke off his ties with the Janata Dal. Initially, he was joined by his brother Ram Chandra Paswan, Ramesh Jigajinagi, and Jai Narain Prasad Nishad. The party contested polls for the Lok Sabha seats in alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Indian National Congress, where they were able to win 4 seats.

In 2004, Paswan had joined the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government when he won in the Lok Sabha election. During this time, he held the position as a Union Minister in the Ministry of Steel and Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

He was often referred to as the ‘Kingmaker’ of Bihar for being humble and approachable to the people who loved him as their leader.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he was saddened beyond words. His tweet further added that there is a void in our nation that will perhaps never be filled. He described Ram Vilas Paswan’s demise as a personal loss. He also visited Paswan at his resident to pay his last tribute earlier today.

Chirag Paswan, son of Ram Vilas Paswan, shared an emotional post on twitter with an image of his younger self hugging his father stating “Papa, you are not in this world any more but I know wherever you are, you will always be with me. Miss you papa.”  After his father’s demise, he is now the president of LJP and would be continuing the fight in the Bihar state polls which are set to begin on October 28.