UP minister Vijay Kashyap dies of COVID-19; Narendra Modi remembers leader ‘devoted to public interest’

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Revenue and Flood Control Vijay Kashyap died from coronavirus at a Gurgaon hospital on Tuesday. Kashyap (56), who was an MLA from Muzaffarnagar’s Charthawal Assembly seat, died at Gurgaon’s Medanta Hospital. He is the third UP minister who has succumbed to the virus. Last year, Uttar Pradesh ministers Kamal Rani Varun and Chetan Chauhan had died from the infection. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the passing away of the BJP leader and said he was devoted to public interest works. “The death of BJP leader and minister in the Uttar Pradesh government Vijay Kashyap ji is very saddening. He was a leader connected to the grassroots and was always devoted to public interest works. My condolences to his family and supporters in this moment of grief. Om Shanti!” PM Modi tweeted in Hindi.

भाजपा नेता और उत्तर प्रदेश सरकार में मंत्री विजय कश्यप जी के निधन से अत्यंत दुख हुआ है। वे जमीन से जुड़े नेता थे और सदा जनहित के कार्यों में समर्पित रहे। शोक की इस घड़ी में उनके परिजनों और प्रशंसकों के प्रति मेरी संवेदनाएं। ओम शांति!

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 18, 2021

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath and state BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh too expressed grief over his demise. “Kashyap, an MLA from Charthawal, was a popular leader who discharged his duties diligently as a minister. In his death, people have lost their true well-wisher,” Adityanath said in a release. According to a BJP release, party’s national vice-president Radha Mohan Singh and other senior leaders also condoled his demise. Kashyap is the fifth BJP legislator who has died in the second coronavirus wave. Earlier, Salon legislator Dal Bahadur Kori, Kesar Singh Gangwar (Nawabganj), Ramesh Diwakar (Auraiya) and Suresh Kumar Srivastava (Lucknow West) had succumbed to the infection.