NEW DELHI, Jan 27: Ramaswamy Venkataraman, who was India’s eighth president and helped author the national constitution, died on Tuesday. He was 98.

Hospital doctors said Venkataraman died from “multi-organ failure”. Venkataraman, a lawyer by profession, became president in July 1987 and worked with five prime ministers during his five-year tenure.

He is better known as one of the leaders who helped in drafting the national constitution that was adopted in 1950.

Before occupying the country’s top constitutional office, Venkataraman had served as India’s defence and finance ministers in the 1980s. “India has lost a true patriot and a distinguished luminary,” President Pratibha Patil said.—AFP