New Delhi: Former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel passed away on Thursday after suffering from prolonged illness. Media reports say that in the morning today he was rushed to a hospital in Ahmedabad where he breathed his last.

A report by Times of India says that the veteran political leader had tested positive for coronavirus last month. He served as the chief minister of Gujarat in 1995 and from 1998 to 2001.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed his condolences and said that his demise was an irreparable loss. He also said that Patel had groomed and mentored many young party workers.






Keshubhai Patel won the assembly elections in the state six times. In 2012, Keshubhai Patel left the BJP and formed his new party 'Gujarat Parivartan Party'. He was elected MLA from Visavadar seat in the 2012 state assembly elections but later resigned in 2014 due to ill health.

In 1945, Keshubhai Patel joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as a pracharak. He also went to jail during the Emergency in 1975.