arif begFormer union minister and senior BJP leader Arif Beg passed away in Bhopal today. He was 81. Mr. Beg was minister in Morarji Desai government.

Beg had left BJP in 1996 however returned to it in 2003. In 1977 he ran for parliament on the Bharatiya Lok Dal ticket from Bhopal and won the seat. In 1989 he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Betul constituency.

After emergency, in 1977 Beg contested Lok sabha election from Bhopal on Janta Party ticket and defeated former president of India Shankar Dayal Sharma who was a congress candidate then