NEW DELHI, Sept. 24 — India’s junior railway minister Suresh Angadi died of COVID-19 on Wednesday evening, two weeks after he was tested positive for the coronavirus.
He was the first federal minister to lose his life to the disease.
Angadi, aged 65, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of parliament from the southern state of Karnataka, died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.
Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many ministers mourned his passing away.
“With his indomitable spirit, he carried out public service with humility and perseverance. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and the loved ones,” Kovind said in a tweet.
Angadi was the fourth member of parliament to have died after contracting the coronavirus.
About 30 federal lawmakers recently tested positive for COVID-19.
India continues to witness a huge daily spike in infections, with the total number of recorded cases now more than 5.7 million.
Source: BERNAMA