Rajasthan BJP MLA Gotam Lal Meena dies due to Covid-19
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, assembly speaker CP Joshi, BJP state president Satish Poonia and other leaders condoled Meena’s death.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Dhariawad constituency in Rajasthan’s Pratapgarh district, Gotam lal Meena, died due to Covid-19 infection at Udaipur’s MB Hospital on Wednesday. A three time MLA, Meena was 57-years old and he left a wife and four sons behind.
Meena was hospitalised on May 16 when his condition deteriorated. He breathed his last on May 19.
Corona infection has claimed the lives of four sitting MLAs in Rajasthan.
Earlier, Congress MLAs Kailash Trivedi and Gajendra Shaktawat and BJP MLA Kiran Maheshwari died due to the infection.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, assembly speaker CP Joshi, BJP state president Satish Poonia and other leaders condoled Meena’s death.
“The untimely demise of BJP MLA from Dhariawad Gotam Lal Meena is very sad,” Gehlot said. He said he was praying for the peace of the departed soul.
Former CM Vasundhara Raje tweeted that Meena’s demise was a personal loss for her. She said he served his constituency “selflessly and honestly”.
“His condition deteriorated in [the] last two days and he was [put] on ventilator support,” leader of opposition Gulabchand Kataria said while expressing grief on Meena’s death. Kataria said Meena always used to raise issues concerning the poor, especially those in the tribal areas.
With Meena’s death, the number of MLAs in the Rajasthan assembly has dropped to 198 from 200 this year. Vallabhnagar constituency fell vacant earlier in January after the death of Congress MLA Gajendra Shaktawat. The seats falling vacant after the death of MLAs Kailash Trivedi and Kiran Maheshwari were filled in May after the April bypolls.
Rajasthan recorded 8,398 Covid-19 positive cases and 146 deaths on Tuesday, taking the infection tally to 879,664 and the death toll to 7,080. Jaipur reported the highest number of 35 deaths, followed by 12 each in Jodhpur and Bikaner, according to an official report. Udaipur and Bikaner reported 11 deaths each.
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot has asked officials to strengthen Covid treatment facilities on a war footing including at the community and primary health centres (PHC) levels. The CM instructed officials to complete the work of setting up oxygen generation plants and infant intensive care units in the model CHC in a time-bound manner, according to a government release. State health secretary Siddharth Mahajan said there was a decrease in the number of active cases for the last few days and it had come down to around 1.59 lakh.