NEW DLEHI: BJP MP from Kairana in western Uttar Pradesh, Hukum Singh passed away at a private hospital in Noida late on Saturday, family members said.
He was 79.
The veteran leader, who had a considerable hold in the Gujjar community, had been admitted to the Noida hospital a few days back, due to some breathing problems.
“Anguished by the demise of MP and veteran leader from Uttar Pradesh, Shri Hukum Singh Ji. He served the people of UP with great diligence and worked for the welfare of farmers. My thoughts are with his family and supporters in this hour of grief,” PM Modi tweeted while offering his condolence.
Hukum Singh, who had been a seven-time member of the Uttar Pradesh state assembly, had served in the Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta, Rajnath Singh and Mayawati governments in the state.
He had shot to prominence not long ago after he raked up the issue of migration of Hindu families from Kairana and neighbouring areas due to “pressure from another community”,
The MP had released a list of 346 families who had been forced to flee the town, which has 85 per cent Muslim population. Kairana is in Shamli district which witnessed communal riots in 2013.
He also claimed that Kairana was becoming “another Kashmir” with Hindu families fleeing.
Minutes before his death, state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Mahendra Nath Pandey had visited him at the hospital, a party leader said.
Agency inputs