Former union minister and senior Congress leader Sardar Buta Singh, who has been called the messiah of Dalits, died on Saturday. Buta Singh, 86, was ill for a long time. Sardar Buta Singh, born on 21 March 1934 in Mustafapur village of Jalandhar district of Punjab, was elected to the Lok Sabha 8 times.
Sardar Buta Singh, a confidant of the Nehru-Gandhi family, held important portfolios in the Government of India as Union Home Minister, Agriculture Minister, Railway Minister, Sports Minister and others, besides being Governor of Bihar and Chairman of the National Scheduled Castes Commission. The senior Dalit leader of the Congress Party, Sardar Buta Singh, was called the messiah of the Dalits.
