New Delhi: Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Manohar Singh Gill died at a South Delhi Hospital on Oct.15 (Sunday) after a brief illness, according to people close to him. He was 86.

M.S. Gill was cremated in New Delhi on Oct. 16 (Monday), they said. Gill is survived by his wife and three daughters.

A former bureaucrat, Gill served under Parkash Singh Badal as a young officer when the Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch was the Punjab Chief Minister.

He served as the Chief Election Commissioner between December 1996 and June 2001.

Gill and GVG Krishnamurty were made members of the Election Commission when T.N. Seshan was heading the poll panel. It was then that the poll panel became a multi-member body, a former Government functionary said. He is perhaps the first former CEC to have joined politics. Gill entered the Rajya Sabha as a Congress member and was made the Union Sports Minister in 2008.

In a statement, the Election Commission said it deeply mourns the demise of Gill, its 11th CEC, describing him as a “brilliant officer of the 1958 batch of the Indian Administrative Services, Punjab cadre.”

“During his tenure as CEC, the ECI successfully conducted the General Elections to the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998 and 13th Lok Sabha in 1999; 11th Presidential Elections and Vice-Presidential Elections in 1997 and General Elections to Legislative Assemblies in more than 20 States,” the poll panel said.

“His leadership and commitment to the electoral process will continue to inspire us at the Election Commission of India. Shri Gill was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in the year 2000 for his exceptional and distinguished services as a civil servant. We pray for the noble departed soul and convey our profound condolences,” it added.