New Delhi: Former Union minister and leading light of the NDA I government, Jaswant Singh died here on Sunday following a long illness. He was 82.

The former Army officer had been ill after a fall at his home in August 2014 and was admitted to the the Army Research and Referral Hospital. He was in and out of hospital since then and was admitted again in June this year.

"It is with profound grief that we inform about the sad demise of Hon'ble Major Jaswant Singh (Retd), former Cabinet Minister of Government of India at 0655 hours on 27 September 2020. He was admitted on 25 Jun 2020 and being treated for Sepsis with Multiorgan Dysfunction Syndrome and effects of Severe Head Injury old (Optd) had a Cardiac arrest this morning," the hospital said in a statement.

Despite the best efforts of the attending team of specialists to resuscitate him, he could not be revived and passed away, it added.

Jaswant Singh's funeral will take place later today at Jodhpur in Rajasthan, family sources said.

Jaswant Singh held the defence, finance and external affairs portfolios in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

He had fought the 2014 Lok Sabha election as an independent candidate after the BJP did not give him a ticket, but lost.