He was elected as a Rajya Sabha member in the same year, under the leadership of Indira Gandhi.

He was appointed twice, in 1980 and 2004, as a member of the National Integration Council chaired by the prime minister.

He was president of the Bridge Federation of India for a number of years and also headed the Indian Lawn Tennis Association.

She came from the same caste and similar background to him, and the couple did not meet prior to their wedding day, as is traditional in Indian arranged marriages.

Birla himself died a month after his wife, on 30 August 2008, a few weeks short of his 90th birthday.

His death occurred at his residence, Birla Park in Kolkata, where he had lived almost his entire life, and the cause was given as age-related ailments and pneumonia.