Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Lok Sabha MP from Ratlam-Jhabua seat in Madhya Pradesh, Dileep Singh Bhuria passed away on Wednesday at a hospital in Gurgaon after a brief illness. The 71-year-old tribal leader suffered from brain hemorrhage and heart attack following which he died at around 11 AM, his family said. Bhuria is survived by wife, two sons and four daughters. Born on June 19, 1944, Bhuria was first elected as MLA from Petlawad seat in 1972. He was first elected as MP from Jhabua seat in 1980 on Congress ticket. He won from the seat five times from 1980 to 1996. However, following differences with Congress General Secretary and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh over the issue of tribal CM, he left the party and later joined BJP. In 1998, he lost the seat to Congress leader Kantilal Bhuria, but won it again in 2014. He also served as National SC/ST Commission Chairman during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government. Bhuria's last rites will be conducted at his ancestral village Macchlia in Jhabua district on Thursday.
