Raigarh (Chhattisgarh): Veteran Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh minister Chanesh Ram Rathiya died of COVID-19 at a hospital in Raigarh in the early hours of Monday, a health official said. He was 78.
"Rathiya, who was suffering from age-related ailments, was admitted in a private hospital here on Saturday after testing positive for coronavirus. He died at around 1 am," Raigarh Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr S N Keshari said.
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The leader is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters.
Rathiya, a prominent tribal leader from north Chhattisgarh, was elected as an MLA for the first time in 1977 from Dharamjaigarh constituency in the then undivided Madhya Pradesh. He subsequently won five more Assembly elections in a row from the same seat.
