LUCKNOW, Nov 22 (Agencies) : Former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and governor of Madhya Pradesh Ram Naresh Yadav died after prolonged illness at Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences here on Tuesday morning.

Aged 90 years, Yadav was undergoing treatment at the institute since September 19. Born on July 1, 1927, Ram Naresh Yadav was the chief minister of UP from 1977 to 1979. He served as governor of Madhya Pradesh between August 2011 - September 2016.

Briefing reporters, chief medical officer, Lucknow Dr SNS Yadav said, "The former CM was a patient of Chronic Fibrosing Alveolitis, a disease of lungs involving its gas-exchanging portions. In September, seasonal fever led to an infection in the lungs which acted as a double whammy. The problem had further aggravated because of underlying diabetes."

Citing experts in SGPGIMS, CMO added, "the problem pushed him in a state of respiratory failure several times. About ten days ago, the lung infection progressed to different organs and damaged the liver and kidneys. In fact, dialysis had to be performed to battle kidney failure. He died at around 8.45 am."

"When his term as governor of Madhya Pradesh ended, he came back to Lucknow. But he was so unwell that he was taken straight to SGPGI from the airport," a close family friend told TOI. "He showed some signs of improvement and came back to his residence in Lucknow before Diwali but couldn't stay for more than 24 hours as complications gripped him again. Since then, his condition deteriorated day by day," he added.

Political analyst JP Shukla recalled that Ram Naresh Yadav worked at Azamgarh court but was popular as a social worker. He came in contact with socialist leader Raj Narain in the 1970s.

He contested and won Lok Sabha election in 1977 from Azamgarh constituency. "He became UP's CM in June 1977, and remained on the post till 28 February 1979. On 25 February 1979, he failed to secure a vote of confidence. Babu Banarsi Das succeeded him," he said.

Despite being the CM of UP, he went into political oblivion for almost two decades. "He came back to limelight by contesting 2004 general elections from Azamgarh on Indian National Congress ticket but was defeated by Bahujan Samaj Party's Ramakant Yadav," Shukla said adding, "the closeness with Congress fetched him governorship in Madhya Pradesh."

Mostly known as a modest and a low-profile politician, Yadav's name figured in Madhya Pradesh's multi-crore Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) or Vyapam scam.