Ashok Gasti, a BJP Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, has died due to COVID-19, a hospital confirmed on Thursday, hours after confusion caused by condolence tweets posted by top politicians. The 55-year-old was critically ill and was admitted to Manipal Hospital.
Dr Manish Rai, the hospital’s director, said in a statement that the MP died at 10.31 PM.
The hospital said the Rajya Sabha member was admitted with severe COVID-19 pneumonia and was critical after multi-organ failure. He was on life support in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Mr Gasti was from Raichur in north Karnataka and was previously a booth-level worker.