Gurgaon: Seventeen days after he was grievously wounded in a Maoist strike, Congress leader and former union minister VC Shukla on Tuesday became the 29th victim of the deadly May 25 attack on a party convoy in Chhattisgarh.
Shukla, 84, who was the main architect of media censorship during the 1975-77 Emergency slapped by then prime minister Indira Gandhi, died around 2:30pm in Medanta Medicity Hospital.
A former union minister, he was shot in his chest, abdomen and thigh and had lost a lot of blood in the attack on the Congress convoy in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, which claimed 28 lives.
Shukla was in a critical condition since his arrival at the hospital two weeks ago.
The Congress leader was operated upon for intestinal and liver injuries and remained critical in the Intensive Care Unit with vital organ support.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi were among the several leaders who condoled his death, while the news left his supporters in the state grieving.
The BJP-led Chhattisgarh government has announced three days of state mourning. (IANS)