Former Gujarat agriculture minister Vallabhbhai Vaghasia died after his car rammed into a bulldozer near Savarkundla town in the state’s Amreli district, police said on Friday.
An official of Wanda police station said that the accident took place on Thursday night.
The 69-year-old Vaghasia, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from the Savarkundla assembly seat, had served as the agriculture and urban housing minister in the first term of the Vijay Rupani government.
He was returning to Savarkundla from a village when the accident happened on the state highway near Vanda village at around 8.30 pm. The police officer said a person accompanying them in the vehicle was injured.
The former minister sustained injuries when his car rammed into a bulldozer. Police said he was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead.
After getting information about the accident, a large number of party leaders and their supporters gathered at the hospital.
“Former MLA from Savarkundla seat and ex-minister VV Vaghasia died in a road accident. A skilled organizer and mass leader who served the people of Amreli and served the people of Amreli is no more. We pay homage to his departed soul. Let’s pray for peace.” BJP MLA from Savarkundla Mahesh Kaswala said, strength to his family to bear the loss.
Amreli MLA Kaushik Vekaria said that Vaghasia would be remembered for his commitment towards the welfare of the people of the area.
Vaghasia had won the 2012 assembly election as a BJP MLA from the Savarkundla seat, and was sworn in as a minister in the Vijay Rupani government in 2016.