Former Union Minister and BJP leader Jayawantiben Mehta passed away in Mumbai today after a brief illness. <br/><br/>She was 78. Her last rites will take place in the evening at Shivaji Park crematorium in Mumbai.<br/><br/>Mehta was Minister of State in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet in 1999. She rose in the BJP ranks to become a corporator, an MLA and later a Lok Sabha member, succeeding Murli Deora from the South Mumbai constituency.