New Delhi:
Senior Congress leader and former Raebareli Sadar MLA Akhilesh Singh passed away in Lucknow on Tuesday morning. He was suffering from cancer for a long time. According to reports, his body will be taken to his village Raebareli for last rites.
Singh, - five-time MLA, has been winning from Raebareli Sadar since 1993. He contested first three elections as a Congress candidate. However, he contested as an independent candidate in 2007 and still managed to win the election with a margin of over 46,000. He fought 2012 Assembly elections as a candidate of Peace Party and won it by a margin of 29,494 votes.
Former Raebareli Sadar MLA & Congress leader Akhilesh Singh passes away.
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) August 20, 2019
When age and diseases started taking their toll, the seasoned politician handed over the reins to her daughter Aditi Singh, who joined the Congress party in 2016. She was later fielded by the party in 2017 Assembly Election and won the Raebareli seat by a margin of more than 90,000 votes.
Aditi Singh, considered close to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, was recently in the news after she supported Modi government’s move of scrapping Article 370 of Indian Constitution which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Terming the Modi government's move as 'historic', she had said that the decision will help the integration of Jammu and Kashmir into the mainstream.
"It will help in integrating Jammu and Kashmir into the mainstream. It is undoubtedly a historic decision," she said.
