Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi passed away at 72 on Monday.
The leader, who had been in a coma since 2008 after suffering a brain stroke, died at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, doctors said. He was survived by his wife Deepa Dasmunsi and son Priyadeep Dasmunsi.
Dasmunsi’s political career began by joining the Indian Youth Congress before entering Parliament in 1971. He was a Member of Parliament from 1999 to 2009. He served as the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minister of Information and Broadcasting from 2004 to 2008, during the first term of the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh.
Football was another field where Dasmunsi made his mark. He became the first Indian to be a match commissioner in a FIFA World Cup when he performed the role in a group stage game between Australia and Croatia in the 2006 World Cup. He made major contributions in professionalising football in the nation and beginning the National Football League.
He was the president of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) till his untimely stroke in 2008.
