Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, Arvind Giri from the Gola Gokrannath Assembly segment under Lakhimpur Kheri district passed away on Tuesday, after he suffered a heart attack while on his way to Lucknow.
Top State leaders including the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and former CM Akhilesh Yadav condoled the demise of the five-term Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) who was an influential figure in the Lakhimpur Kheri district’s politics.
“The demise of Arvind Giri ji, the BJP MLA from Gola assembly segment of Lakhimpur Kheri district is unfortunate. My condolences are with the bereaved family members. May Lord Shri Ram give strength to the bereaved family members to bear this unfortunate loss. Om Shanti,” the statement from the Chief Minister’s office reads. The Samajwadi Party (SP) president and former CM Akhilesh Yadav said, “The demise of the BJP MLA from Gola Shri. Arvind Giri ji, is very unfortunate. My condolences are with the family of the deceased.”
The late Giri,65, was a seasoned politician who had worked as a student activist for a decade before joining the Samajwadi Party (SP) in 1993. He won his first Assembly elections in 1996 as the SP candidate from Hyderabad Assembly segment. In the 2002 and 2007 State Assembly elections, he won again from the seat on the SP ticket. Before the 2017 Assembly polls, realizing the changing political wind in the State, he shifted to the BJP and won the Gola Gokrannath Assembly segment by a thumping margin of 55,017 votes. In the 2022 Assembly elections, he again emerged victorious from the same seat with a margin of 29,294 votes. The saffron party was successful in winning all the eight Assembly seats under Lakhimpur Kheri district in the 2022 UP Assembly elections.