Congress Seva Dal leader Krishna Kumar Pandey died on Tuesday while participating in the party’s mass outreach programme Bharat Jodo Yatra which is currently passing through Maharashtra. Pandey was general secretary of Congress’s Seva Dal, the grassroots front organization of the grand old party. Congress said in a statement that Pandey collapsed during the march and was rushed to the hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh informed that Pandey had just moved back after walking with a tricolour in hand alongside him and party veteran Digvijaya Singh when the Seva Dal leader collapsed.
He was taken in an ambulance to a hospital “where most sadly he was declared dead,” Ramesh said in a tweet.
The Rajya Sabha member added, “He was a staunch Congressman and used to take on the RSS in Nagpur. It is a most humbling moment for all the Yatris.”
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra, expressed his deepest condolences to Pandey’s loved ones.
“Congress Seva Dal General Secretary, Krishnakant Pandey ji’s demise is very sad for the entire Congress family. I express my deepest condolences to his loved ones,” he said in a tweet.
“Today, he held the tricolor in his hands at the last moment during the journey. His dedication to the country will always inspire us.”
On Tuesday, Gandhi resumed the yatra after visiting a gurdwara in Maharashtra’s Nanded district as the foot march entered into its 62nd day. The Congress MP from Wayanad visited Gurdwara Yaadgari Baba Zoravar Singh ji Fateh Singh ji on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti. As Gandhi resumed his march, he was flanked by senior Maharashtra Congress leaders including former chief ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and Ashok Chavan, state party chief Nana Patole, and other leaders like Balasaheb Thorat, Manikrao Thakre and Naseem Khan.