Former Union petroleum minister Captain Satish Sharma passed away on Wednesday in Goa.

The news has been confirmed by former Union minister Jitin Prasada.

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“Sad to hear about the passing away of Captain Satish Sharma. Always warm and encouraging towards his younger colleagues. He will be missed,” Prasada tweeted on Wednesday night.

Known as a close aide of the Gandhi family, Captain Satish Sharma was 73 at the time of his demise.

A report quoted sources as saying that he passed away due to age-related ailments.

Sources said he was not keeping well for some time now.

He was born at Secunderabad in 1947 and was a trained pilot.

As the news of his demise spread, condolence messages are pouring in.

“Former union minister captain Satish Sharma passed away, may God bless his soul,” Congress spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh tweeted.

Expressing his deep condolence at the former Union minister’s demise, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted: “Sad that Captain Satish Sharma departed. Long standing colleague in the Rajya Sabha, he was a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee that I chaired for many years. Deepest condolences to his family.”

Captain Sharma was an MP in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and had close relations with the Rajiv Gandhi family.

Captain Sharma served as the Union petroleum minister during the Narsimha Rao government.

After Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, Captain Sharma was elected to the Lok Sabha from Amethi constituency in 1991.

From January 1993 until December 1996, he remained as the minister for petroleum and natural gas.