Chotelal Verma, BJP MLA from Fatehabad, dies aged 73; UP CM Yogi Adityanath pays tribute | Today’s news
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Fatehabad Agra constituency, Chotelal Verma, died at a hospital in Noida on Thursday, PTI reported. He was 73.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath paid tribute to Verma in a post on X, describing his death as “extremely sad”. He prayed to Lord Shri Ram to grant salvation to the departed soul and strength to Verma’s family to bear the loss.
Verma was first elected as an MLA from Fatehabad constituency in 1993 on a BJP ticket at the age of 40. He contested the 1996 elections on a BJP ticket but lost to Vijay Pal Singh of the Janata Dal. He returned to the assembly in 2002 after winning a seat on a BJP ticket.
Verma’s political legacy
He contested the 2007 elections on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket but failed. He later joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and won the Fatehabad seat in 2012. Verma subsequently returned to the BJP and won the constituency for the fourth time in 2022, securing over 50,000 votes.
According to Live Hindustan, in 2008 Verma was appointed as the Deputy Chairman of the Ramganga Command Project, Kanpur-Lucknow, a position holding the rank of Minister of State. In May 2009, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh State Integration Council, a post with the rank of Deputy Minister.
Verma is survived by three sons and three daughters.
Final rites at the ancestral village
His son Mahendra Verma told Live Hindustan that after post-mortem in Noida, Verma’s body reached Agra around 3 am on Friday. The last vigil will be held at the family residence in Vibhav Nagar until around 3 pm, after which his body will be taken to his ancestral village, Nagla Devhans.
Verma supervised the construction of a temple in the village. His body will be kept in the temple premises for people to pay their last respects before his last rites with state honors at the cremation ground on the banks of the Yamuna.
