Lucknow’s legendary Begum Hamida Habibullah dead at 102

Former UP minister and one of the most popular faces in the state capital, Begum Hamida Habibullah passed away in Lucknow on Tuesday morning. She was 102, family sources said.

Daughter of the late Nawab Nazir Yar Jung Bahadur, Chief Justice of the Hyderabad High Court, Begum Hamida was a front-ranking social worker known to the land of Avadh.

Married to Major General Inayat Habibullah, founder commandant of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune. Her son Wajahat Habibullah held the position of the first Chief Information Commissioner of India.

She joined active politics in 1965 after her husband's retirement. Begum Hamida served as an MLA from Haidergarh (Barabanki) and was state minister of social and Harijan welfare, national integration and civil defence from 1971-73 and tourism minister from 1971-74.

She was also a member of the Executive Committee of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) till 1980 and an elected member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) from 1969.

Begum Hamida served as the president of Mahila Congress, UPCC, from 1972-76 after which she was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1976 till 1982, a relative informed.

Her burial will take place later on Tuesday at Saidanpur, her native village in Barabanki.

Soon after the news came in, tributes from various quarters started pouring in on Twitter: