Overview
- Vijay Singh Gond, the Samajwadi Party legislator from Duddhi, died on January 8 at SGPGI in Lucknow, according to hospital authorities.
- He was 71 and had been receiving care for serious kidney ailments for months, including an extended stay at the government-run institute.
- SP chief Akhilesh Yadav visited SGPGI to pay respects as arrangements were made to transport the body to Sonbhadra for final rites.
- A leading tribal voice in Uttar Pradesh, Gond won the Duddhi seat multiple times across parties since 1980 and served briefly as a minister of state under Mulayam Singh Yadav.
- He returned to the Assembly in a 2024 by-election necessitated by then-MLA Ramdular Gond’s 25-year rape conviction, defeating the BJP’s Shravan Gond.