New Delhi: The veteran Congress leader, Mohsina Kidwai, a former Union Minister who held several key portfolios under the late former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, passed away in Noida on April 8, 2026. She was 94.

“Mohsina Kidwai, who had been suffering from age-related ailments, died early in the morning at Metro Hospital,” her son-in-law Razi Ur Rehman Kidwai said. A senior leader of the Congress, Mohsina Kidwai had a public career spanning more than six decades. She served multiple terms in the Lok Sabha and later in the Rajya Sabha, and was a member of the Congress Working Committee and the Party’s Central Election Committee.

Condoling her death, Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, in a post on social media, described her as a stalwart who devoted over six decades to public service and remained a guiding force for the Congress through difficult periods. “Her passing is a profound loss to the Congress Party and to the nation,” Shri Mallikarjun Kharge said.

Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi also condoled Kidwai’s demise and hailed her contribution to the Party. “The news of the passing of former Union minister and former Member of Parliament, Mohsina Kidwai Ji, is deeply saddening. She was a highly senior and loyal leader of the Congress Party, whose entire life stood as an exemplar of public service,” Shri Gandhi said in an X post in Hindi.

“Through her simplicity, grace and dignified political success, she inspired generations of women across the country. In this hour of grief, I extend my deepest condolences to her bereaved family and supporters,” he said.

AICC General Secretary Smt. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the Party will miss the wisdom and guidance of the deceased leader. “We will miss Mohsina Kidwai Ji’s wisdom and guidance. She was a trailblazer of her time. As one of the few women PCC Presidents of Uttar Pradesh, she travelled to every corner of the state and built lasting relationships with Congress workers across the districts,” Smt. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said.

“Her courage, ideological commitment and patriotism were unquestioned. She was also a kind-hearted and compassionate person who lived a life of great dignity. My deepest condolences to her family. May they have the strength to bear this loss with courage,” she posted in Hindi on X.

Mohsina Kidwai held several portfolios in the Union government, including Labour, Health and Family Welfare, Rural Development, Transport and Urban Development. She enjoyed the confidence of both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi during her ministerial career.

Born into a conservative Muslim zamindar family, Kidwai had not initially envisioned a career in politics. She once recalled that she “dreamt of becoming a musician”, but her life took a decisive turn after her marriage into a politically active family. Her father-in-law, freedom fighter Jamul-ur-Rehman Kidwai, played a key role in introducing her to the political world.

A defining early moment came in 1954, when as a young bride she visited Teen Murti House and met Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. That interaction, she would later say, planted the seeds of a long political journey and a close association with the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Her political journey began in 1960 when she was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council at the age of 28. She later became a Minister in the State government and entered national politics after winning the 1978 by-election from Azamgarh.

Her political life saw both highs and lows, often independent of the Congress Party’s electoral fortunes. Notably, she secured a sweeping electoral victory in the post-Emergency period — a time widely regarded as one of the Congress’ most challenging phases.

Over the course of her career, she held the rare distinction of serving in four different legislatures — as a Member of the Legislative Council, Member of the Legislative Assembly, and later as a Member of both Houses of Parliament.

After several terms in the Lok Sabha, she entered the Rajya Sabha in 2004 and remained active in public life well into her eighties. In 2022, she published her memoir, My Life in Indian Politics, recounting her long political journey.