Chhattisgarh Assembly Deputy Speaker and ruling Congress MLA Manoj Singh Mandavi died Sunday at the age of 58 due to a heart attack.

The politician, who represented Bhanupratappur constituency in Kanker district, was rushed to a hospital in neighbouring Dhamtari town Saturday night. According to state Congress communication wing head Sushil Anand Shukla, Mandavi was declared dead Sunday morning, PTI reported. 

“The news of the sudden demise of Deputy Speaker of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly, senior tribal leader, and Bhanupratappur MLA Manoj Singh Mandavi is very sad for all of us. May God give strength to his family members to bear the loss. I pray for peace of the departed soul,” Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel wrote on Twitter (in Hindi).

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Who was Manoj Singh Mandavi?

Mandavi was elected from the Bhanupratappur constituency in the 2018 Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly election.

Born to Hari Shankar, Manoj Singh Mandavi hailed from Telagara village in Kanker district, Chhattisgarh. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986 and earned a Master of Arts in Sociology in 1988, both from Government Degree College Kanker, which is affiliated to Ravishankar University Raipur.

Mandavi contested from the Bhanupratappur constituency for the first time in 2003. He lost to BJP’s Deo Lal Dugga by a margin of only 1379 votes.

In 2008, he contested as an Independent candidate. H lost to BJP’s Bramhanand by 15479 votes.

In 2013, he won in the Bhanupratappur constituency as an INC candidate with 64,837 votes, defeating BJP’s Satish Latiya and securing 45.98% of the total vote share.

He won in the 2018 Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly election with 72,520 votes, gaining 49.07% of the total vote share and defeating BJP’s Deo Lal Dugga.

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On November 30, 2019, Mandavi filed nomination papers for the post of Deputy Speaker in the 4th Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly. He was elected to the post unanimously on December 2, 2019.

Mandavi got married to Savitri Mandavi, with whom he has two sons.