Raipur: A 52-year-old four-time Chhattisgarh lawmaker died from cardiac arrest on Thursday, his family said. Devvrat Singh complained of chest pain around midnight and was rushed to a hospital at Khairagarh in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district, around 90 km from the state capital Raipur, where doctors declared him dead. A member of the erstwhile royal family of Khairagarh, Devvrat Singh was first elected as a legislator in 1995 on a Congress ticket. He was re-elected in 1998 and 2003.
In 2007, he won the Rajnandgaon parliamentary seat. Devvrat Singh quit the Congress in December 2017, saying he was forced to do so as he was being neglected and sidelined. 2 months later, he joined former chief minister Ajit Jogi-led Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) in February 2018. He contested the 2018 assembly election and became a lawmaker for the fourth time from Khairagarh on Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) ticket. 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.
“We are all shocked over the death of Devvrat Singh. I had close relations with him since 1998. Huge loss for the party,” said Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) president Amit Jogi. 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 underway.