RJD Lok Sabha MP Umashankar Singh died this morning at a hospital here, his family said.

72-year-old Singh breathed his last at the AIIMS where he had been admitted for treatment of pneumonia and lung infection. He is survived by his wife and four sons.

A five-time MLA, he was elected MP from Maharajganj in 2009 and was one of the four MPs of Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janta Dal.

Prasad condoled the death of Singh. The RJD chief, who came to party office in Patna on the occasion of the 89th birth anniversary of socialist leader Karpoori Thakur, led his party members in observing a minute's silence to condole the death of the MP.

Born in village Renuwa of Siwan district of Bihar, Singh had been elected to the Assembly for the first time in 1977 from Maharajganj and had served as MLA five times till 2005 on tickets from various parties.

Singh was Bihar President of Janata Dal (United) before switching sides to RJD on the eve of last general elections.

Singh's family said that he had visited Chennai and Goa as a member of a Parliamentary Committee recently and fell ill soon after coming back here.

He was admitted to AIIMS on January 18 after suffering from penumonia.

Singh was earlier treated in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital this month after he had caught cold.

He is a member of Lok Sabha's Committee on Railways and on Empowerment of Women.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar condoled the death of Singh and said he was his old friend since the days of the Samata Party.

Kumar said Singh was a social worker who worked tirelessly to spread the message of equality in the society.

Expressing grief over demise of Singh, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav said his untimely death came as a surprise for him.

At the end of the function on the 89th birth anniversary of Jannayak Karpoori Thakur, the JD(U) in the presence of Kumar and Yadav observed two minutes of silence to pay respect to Umashankar Singh.

Leader of the Opposition in Bihar assembly Abdul Bari Siddiqui described Singh as an efficient politician and a great proponent of socialist ideology.