Senior Congress leader and former minister Chanesh Ram Rathiya died of COVID-19 at a hospital in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district on Monday early hours, a local health official and his party informed.
"Rathiya, 78, who was suffering from age-related ailments, was admitted in a private hospital here on Saturday after testing Covid positive. He died at around 1 am," Raigarh Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr S N Keshari said.
The leader is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters.
Rathiya, a prominent tribal leader from northern Chhattisgarh, was elected as an MLA for the first time in 1977 from Dharamjaigarh constituency during undivided Madhya Pradesh. He then went on winning the seat five times on the trot.
He served as animal husbandry minister in the Digvijay Singh led-Congress government in erstwhile Madhya Pradesh and was the food and civil supplies minister in the Ajit Jogi-led Congress government (2000-2003) after the formation of Chhattisgarh in 2000.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel expressed grief over Rathiya's death. "Deeply saddened to hear about the demise of former minister and prominent tribal leader Chanesh Ram Rathiya ji. He will always be remembered in Dharamjaigarh and the entire state for serving people," Baghel tweeted.