Uttar Pradesh Minister Kamla Rani Varun, 62, died on August 2, days after testing positive for COVID-19, the government said.
Ms. Varun, who held the Technical Education portfolio in the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet, died during treatment at the SGPGI in Lucknow around 9.30 a.m.
She tested positive and was receiving treatment, said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while delivering his condolence message.
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Ms. Varun was an MLA from Ghatampur in Kanpur and had been promoted to the State Cabinet in August 2019 when the Adityanath government went in for an expansion following the Lok Sabha victory. She was a former councillor and pracharak of the Seva Bharti, an affiliate of the RSS.
She had success in the Lok Sabha elections in the past, winning from Ghatampur Parliamentary constituency in 1996 and 1998 but lost in 1999 and 2004 to the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party respectively, standing third on each occasion.
Till Saturday, 1,677 persons had died in Uttar Pradesh due to COVID-19, the Health Department said.
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PTI adds:
Ms. Varun, who is survived by her daughter, was cremated at the Bhairo Ghat crematorium here in accordance with COVID-19 protocols.
“A guard of honour was given as soon as her body reached Bhairo Ghat crematorium,” District Magistrate Dr. Brahmdeo Ram Tiwari said.
The ambulance carrying her body wrapped in plastic reached the crematorium at 2 p.m. where family members, BJP colleagues and senior police and administration officials waited to pay their respects from a distance.