Congress veteran Makhan Lal Fotedar dies at the age of 85

Makhan Lal Fotedar, a veteran Congress leader who was a close confidante of former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

He died at a hospital in Gurugram on the outskirts of Delhi, Congress party sources said.

He enjoyed immense trust of Indira Gandhi who had made him her political



secretary in 1980. After her death, Rajiv Gandhi also made him his political secretary for three years, before inducting him in his Cabinet as a minister.Congress President Sonia Gandhi expressed her condolences on his death.

In his long and active political career spanning over five decades, he tirelessly fought for the rights of people and served them with utmost integrity,” she said, adding that Fotedar was one of the guiding lights for the Congress party and has left behind a void which can never be filled.