New Delhi, October 27: Former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana died following prolonged illness in the national capital on Saturday. Madan Lal Khurana was among veteran leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a member of Rashtriya Swayansevak Sangh. He was 82. "He breathed his last at around 11 pm at his Kirti Nagar residence," his son Harish Khurana told PTI.

Khurana was suffering from a chest infection and fever from last few days and was feeling breathless since Saturday morning, Harish said. He had suffered a brain haemorrhage about five years ago and was ailing since then. His last rites would be held tomorrow, his family said.

Madan Lal Khurana served as chief minister of Delhi from 1993 to 1996. He also served as Governor of Rajasthan in 2004. He was born on October 15, 1936 in Lyallpur, Punjab province in  British India, now called Faisalabad. His family migrated to Delhi after partition.

Madan Lal Khurana was given the title of Dilli Ka Sher (Lion of Delhi) for reviving the BJP in Delhi. He was expelled from the party twice; in August 2005 when he criticised then BJP president Lal Krishna Advani and in March 2006 when he announced to attend a rally by then expelled Uma Bharti.

Khurana serve as the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism in the Vajpayee government, before resigning in January 1999, owing to a fallout with the party leadership following a series of attacks on Christians that were blamed on Hindu groups. His son Vimal Khurana died of cardiac arrest last month.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 27, 2018 11:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).