Chhattisgarh MLA Devvrat Singh dies of cardiac arrest at 52

Raipur, November 4

Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) legislator and former MP Devvrat Singh died on Thursday following cardiac arrest, his family members said.

The 52-year-old leader was declared dead by doctors after he was taken to a hospital at Khairagarh in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district, around 90 km from the state capital Raipur.

“Singh complained of chest pain at around 1 am following which he was rushed to a government hospital where doctors declared him dead,” Sunil Singh, a close relative of the legislator, told PTI over phone.

His final rites will be held later in the day in Khairagarh. He has a son and a daughter, the relative said.

In March this year, the MLA had contracted the coronavirus infection when the budget session of the Chhattisgarh Assembly was under way.

The four-time MLA, who belonged to the erstwhile royal family of Khairagarh, was first elected as legislator in 1995 on a Congress ticket from Khairagarh and the second time in 1998, in the then undivided Madhya Pradesh.

After the formation of Chhattisgarh in 2000, he was elected for the third time in 2003.

In 2007, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rajnandgaon parliamentary seat.

He quit the Congress in December 2017, claiming that he was forced to do so as he was “neglected” and “sidelined” by senior party colleagues.

In February 2018, he joined former chief minister Ajit Jogi’s party JCC (J), months ahead of the Assembly election.

He contested the Assembly election on the JCC (J) ticket and became MLA for the fourth time from Khairagarh.

In last year’s Marwahi bypoll, necessitated due to the death of sitting legislator Ajit Jogi, Devvrat Singh supported the ruling Congress’s nominee, who won the election. PTI