Veteran Cong leader Janak Raj Gupta passes away in Jammu

Jammu, Sept 13: Veteran Congress leader and a two-time MP from Jammu Poonch assembly constituency, Janak Raj Gupta, passed away this morning in a government hospital here.

He was 79. Gupta suffered a cardiac arrest late last night and was admitted to Super Special hospital where he breathed his last. He is survived by his wife Uma Gupta, daughter Saloni Mahajan and son Vicky Mahajan.

Gupta was political advisor to former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. He first became a member of the legislative council in 1969 and was elected as an MLA from R S Pura assembly constituency in 1977 and 1983.

The next year, he become a member of the Lok Sabha from Jammu-Poonch constituency. He had contested the seat on a Congress ticket and trumped Dr Karan Singh who had fought as an independent candidate.

He was re-elected to Parliament from the constituency in 1989. Several Congress leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, party's state unit chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir, chief spokesman Ravinder Sharma and other senior leaders conveyed their sympathies to the bereaved family.

PTI