New Delhi, Oct. 29 (PTI): Former Union minister H.K.L. Bhagat died at a city hospital today after a long illness. He was 84.

A close associate of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, Bhagat (in picture) called the shots in the Delhi Congress in the ’70s and ’80s. He was among those indicted by the Nanavati Commission for allegedly instigating the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.

Bhagat, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and various other ailments, was in hospital for one-and-a-half years. He is survived by wife Asha and three children.