Former All India Football Federation (AIFF) president and leader of the Congress party Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi on Monday passed away at the age of 72.
Dasmunsi was in coma since long.
He had been admitted at the Apollo Hospital in the national capital.
According to reports, Dasmunsi had suffered a stroke and a paralytic attack, leaving him unable to speak or recognise anyone.
Dasmunsi, who represented the Raiganj Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal, was also the state President of Indian Youth Congress in West Bengal from 1970 to 1971.
He entered the Indian Parliament in 1971 and became a minister for the first time in 1985 when he was sworn in as the Union Minister of State for Commerce.
Dasmunsi also headed the AIFF and was the first Indian to serve as a match commissioner in a FIFA World Cup game. He had been a match commissioner during the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.