Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and eight-time MLA from Duddhi assembly constituency, Vijay Singh Gond, passed away on Thursday at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow, where he was undergoing treatment. He was 71.
According to SGPGI Public Relations Officer Kusum Yadav, the cause of death was multi-organ failure.
The news of his demise triggered a wave of grief across the Sonbhadra district and adjoining areas.
Duddhi is Uttar Pradesh’s 403rd and final assembly constituency and is reserved for Scheduled Tribes. The region has a significant tribal population, and Vijay Singh Gond was widely regarded as the “patriarch” of tribal politics in the area.
A towering figure in the state’s tribal political landscape, Gond represented the Duddhi constituency in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly seven times. He was known for forcefully raising issues related to tribal rights and welfare on the floor of the House.
In 2024 by-election, he defeated BJP candidate Shravan Gond by a margin of 3,160 votes. Earlier in the 2022 Assembly elections, he had secured victory from Duddhi by defeating Ramdular Gond with a margin of 6,297 votes.
Vijay Singh Gond also served as a minister during the Samajwadi Party government and held considerable influence within the party organisation.
His political journey was marked by struggle and perseverance. Starting with very limited resources, he began his career working at the Vanvasi Seva Ashram in 1979 on a modest monthly honorarium of Rs 200. During this period, he entered the Uttar Pradesh Assembly for the first time on a Congress ticket.
Deeply committed to tribal causes, Gond fought a prolonged legal battle up to the Supreme Court to ensure that the Duddhi and Obra assembly constituencies were declared reserved for Scheduled Tribes. His efforts significantly shaped the political representation and empowerment of tribal communities in the region.
With his passing, Uttar Pradesh politics has lost a veteran leader whose life and work were closely intertwined with the aspirations and struggles of the tribal population.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav has expressed his grief on the demise of the senior MLA.