NEW DELHI (AP) — Vinod Mehta, founding editor of India‘s Outlook magazine and a fearless and irreverent commentator on Indian politics, died Sunday. He was 73.

Mehta died of multiple organ failure at New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences, said hospital spokesman Amit Gupta.

In a career spanning four decades, Mehta launched several newspapers and magazines. But he was best known for his trenchant editorial columns on politics and the shenanigans of Indian politicians.

Mehta was born in the city of Rawalpindi, in present-day Pakistan, in 1942. He spent his childhood in Lucknow, India.

In 2011, he published his best-selling memoirs, “Lucknow Boy,” followed a couple of years later by “Editor Unplugged.”

Mehta was the founding editor of newspapers such as the Sunday Observer, the Indian Post, The Independent and the Delhi edition of The Pioneer. In 1995, he founded Outlook, a weekly news and views magazine. He was a popular commentator on television chat shows, well known for his fiercely independent views.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Frank & direct in his opinions, Vinod Mehta will be remembered as a fine journalist & writer. Condolences to his family on his demise.”