BJP's Alwar MP Mahant Chand Nath dies of cancer

BJP MP from Alwar Mahant Chand Nath, who was battling an "aggressive thyroid cancer", passed away at a Delhi hospital in the early hours of Sunday.

Nath, head of the Baba Mastnath Mutt in Rohtak, was laid to rest in Samadhi at the mutt premises with full state honours. He was 61. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled his death.

"Saddened by the demise of LS MP from Alwar, Mahant Chand Nath ji. He will be remembered for his rich social work. My deepest condolences," Modi said in a tweet.

Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar and his Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan counterparts Yogi Adityanath and Vasundhra Raje, were present when Nath was laid to rest in Rohtak.

Thousands of Nath's followers paid tributes to the departed soul. Earlier, his body was kept at the Math to enable people to pay their last respects.

On September 13, Nath was brought to the Apollo Hospital in New Delhi in a "very bad shape", according to a senior doctor.

"He was battling an aggressive thyroid cancer for the last two-and-a-half years. He had already undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy and was undergoing immunotherapy," the doctor told PTI.

"We had conducted tracheostomy. He was being fed through a tube in his stomach. Yesterday, he was doing fine during the daytime, but his condition deteriorated at night and he suffered a cardiac arrest. He died around 12:40 am," he said.

The doctor said that Nath survived longer only because he was "mentally tough" and "very positive".

"His cancer was aggressive in 2015 only. It just tore through his body but his toughness made him battle it for much longer," he said.

Nath had won the Alwar seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls defeating former Union minister Jitendra Singh, who was the Congress candidate.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan condoled Nath's death.

Nath was a social and spiritual leader, who raised issues that affected the poor, besides representing Alwar in the Lok Sabha, she said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Raje also expressed condolences to the bereaved family members and said it was an irreparable loss to her and the entire BJP family.

PTI