Chandigarh (IANS): Former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president and veteran Shiromani Akali Dal leader Jagdev Singh Talwandi died in Ludhiana Friday, hospital sources said. He was 85.

Talwandi was ailing for the past few days and was admitted to the Hero DMC Heart Institute in Ludhiana, 110 km from here. Doctors had said that his condition was critical and he was on life-support system.

Talwandi was elected president of SGPC, the mini-parliament of Sikh religious affairs, in 2000.

A senior Akali Dal leader, Talwandi became president of the Akali Dal in 1977. He was a minister in Punjab earlier.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had visited Talwandi in hospital earlier this month.