BJP MLA from Bareilly Kesar Singh Gangwar dies of COVID-19

Image courtesy: Twitter

Lucknow: The sitting BJP MLA from Bareilly's Nawabganj constituency, Kesar Singh Gangwar, succumbed to COVID-19 on Wednesday (April 28). Gangwar was 64. He is the third MLA in the state who succumbed to the virus in the second wave. 

The MLA was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Noida for the past few days, where he died, said a PTI report citing family sources. Gangwar, who was recently tested positive for coronavirus, is survived by his wife, three daughters, and a son.

Earlier a member of the Legislative Council from the BSP in 2009, Kesar Singh Gangwar joined the BJP in 2017, and won the Assembly election from Nawabganj.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and state Legislative Assembly Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit condoled his death, while state BJP chief Swatantradev Singh and general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal expressed their sorrow.

Before Gangwar, BJP MLA from Auraiya Ramesh Chandra Diwakar (56) died on April 23 in Meerut, while Suresh Kumar Srivastava (76), the BJP MLA from Lucknow West, succumbed to the coronavirus pandemic on April 23. 

Notably, Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday recorded the highest single-day rise in its COVID-19 death toll with 266 more people succumbing to disease, while 29,824 new cases pushed the tally to 11,82,848, said the state government in a statement.

The death toll in the state now stands at 11,943. A total of 35,903 COVID-19 patients, however, were discharged after recovery in the past 24 hours.

Of the 266 fresh deaths, Allahabad recorded 21 deaths, followed by 15 in Hardoi, 14 in Varanasi, 13 each in Lucknow and Kanpur, 12 each in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad, 11 in Gorakhpur, and 10 in Agra, said the statement.

Of the new cases, Lucknow reported 3,759 cases, followed by 1,909 in Varanasi, 1,650 in Kanpur, 1,355 in Meerut, 1,261 in Allahabad, 1,076 in Agra, 1,045 in Gorakhpur and 1,041 in Bareilly, it further said.

(With Agency Inputs)