BJP leader, former Gujarat MLA Sunil Oza passes away

BJP leader and former Gujarat MLA Sunil Oza died in Delhi on Wednesday morning, the party said in a release here.

Oza, who was recently appointed as a co-incharge of the Bihar unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, died due to a heart attack early in the morning, it said.

Gujarat BJP president C R Paatil expressed grief over his death, it added.

Oza was elected to the Gujarat Assembly from Bhavnagar South constituency in 1998 and 2002.

Before his appointment as a co-incharge of the Bihar BJP unit, Oza was a co-incharge of the party's Uttar Pradesh unit and looked after the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the release said.

Notably, Oza had revolted against Modi's leadership when the latter was Gujarat chief minister and left the party before the 2007 elections.

He fought the elections as an independent candidate but lost. Later, Oza joined the MahaGujarat Janta Party floated by Gordhan Zadafia, another rebel and a former minister in the Modi government.

Oza returned to the BJP in December 2011 and was reportedly handpicked by Modi himself in 2014 to take responsibility of the Varanasi constituency.

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