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Rajasthan: Karanpur Congress MLA Gurmeet Singh Kooner passes away
He won for the first time in the 1998 assembly elections on a Congress ticket, and then as an Independent in 2008 before returning to the assembly as a Congress MLA in 2018
Rajasthan Congress leader and Karanpur MLA Gurmeet Singh Kooner passed away on Wednesday, a week before his state was set to go for polls on November 23. The 75-year-old leader was admitted to the geriatric medicine ward of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi on November 12.
Kooner died of sepsis with septic shock and renal disease, and also suffered from hypertension, according to the death certificate issued by the hospital. He was fielded by the party from the same seat against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Surendra Pal Singh.
Expressing condolences on ‘X’, chief minister Ashok Gehlot said, “I am deeply saddened by the news of the demise of Karanpur MLA and former minister Gurmeet Singh Kooner.”
“Despite being unwell for a long time, he always strived for development in his area. Kooner’s demise is an irreparable loss for the Congress party and Rajasthan politics. I pray to God to give peace to the departed soul and courage to the family,” Gehlot said.
A three-time MLA, Kooner was a strong Congress leader from his constituency. He won for the first time in the 1998 assembly elections on a Congress ticket, and then as an Independent in 2008 before returning to the assembly as a Congress MLA in 2018.
With his demise, the assembly poll on the seat will be adjourned in accordance with election rules.
“The election on the Karanpur seat will be adjourned due to the demise of the candidate. A fresh date of polling will be notified by the Election Commission,” an official in the Rajasthan election office said.
According to Section 52 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, if a candidate fielded by a recognised state or national party dies before a poll, then the returning officer “adjourns” the poll on that seat “to a date to be notified later”.
According to Section 52 (2) of the Act, the ECI then asks the recognised political party to nominate another candidate within seven days of being asked to do so.
