Sworn in as a cabinet rank minister in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress ministry in Haryana, noted industrialist Om Prakash Jindal and Surender Singh, younger son of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, had a brief 21-day stint in office.

Both died in a helicopter crash on Thursday.

Jindal, 75, had been elected to the state assembly for the third time from the Hissar assembly constituency.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kurukshetra in 1996 and Haryana assembly for thrice (1991, 2000 and 2005).

Jindal's son is the current Lok Sabha MP from Kurukshetra, Navin Jindal.

O P Jindal was a matriculate and took keen interest in horse riding, kabaddi and wrestling.

He held various posts, including of that of chairman, Maharaja Agarsain Medical College, Agroha.

The Times group of publications did a book "A Man of Steel" on his life.

Jindal was born on August 7, 1930 in village Nalwa in district Hisar.

He was married to Savitri Devi Jindal and had four sons and five daughters.

A globe trotter, Jindal's favourite pastime was to read about the latest information in the field of industry and farming.

The other minister who died in the crash, Surender Singh, 59, a son of former chief minister Bansi Lal and younger brother of Board of Control for Cricket in India president Ranbir Mahendra had made a return to the state assembly after 22 years as agriculture minister.

Born on July 25, 1946 at Golagarh in Bhiwani district, Surender Singh served as a member of the Haryana assembly from 1977 to 1986 and as agriculture and wildlife preservation minister in 1982-83.

Surender Singh, who was an outstanding sportsman during his college days and took keen interest in cricket, served as a member of Rajya Sabha from1986 to 1992.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996 and 1998.