BJP Rajasthan unit president Madan Lal Saini died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi on Monday after a brief illness. He was shifted from Jaipur to Delhi on Saturday for treatment of blood-related ailment in Haematology Department after being diagnosed with infection in lungs.
Mr. Saini, also a Rajya Sabha MP, was 75. He was appointed the BJP State chief in June last year, after the party remained headless for about three months following the resignation of Ashok Parnami. Mr. Saini had emerged as a “consensus candidate” after differences emerged over the selection of certain other leaders.
He was shifted to the intensive care unit in AIIMS when his condition deteriorated. He breathed his last on Monday evening, the party sources said here.
A large number of BJP workers, led by former BJP State president Arun Chaturvedi, gathered at the party's State headquarters here and paid tributes to the departed leader. Mr. Saini was active in politics for several decades after joining the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1952.
He was elected an MLA from Gudha in Jhunjhunu district in 1990 and had later unsuccessfully fought the Lok Sabha election twice from Jhunjhunu in 1991 and 1998. He was elected a Rajya Sabha member from the State in March 2018.
According to the party sources, Mr. Saini's body will be brought here on Tuesday morning and taken for cremation in his native village, Patan, in Sikar district in the afternoon.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressed grief over Mr. Saini’s death and said he was “shocked and saddened” to hear about his passing away. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Mr. Saini’s death was a “major loss for the BJP family.”
