Congress parliamentarian Chaudhary Santokh Singh passed away on Saturday morning after suffering a heart attack in Punjab while participating in Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra (Unite India Campaign).
76-year-old Singh was a member of parliament from Punjab's Jalandhar. The MP was rushed to hospital soon after he collapsed, and doctors declared him dead minutes after being admitted.
He suffered a cardiac arrest, according to preliminary reports.
The Unite India Campaign entered Punjab on January 11 and will move on to Congress-governed Himachal Pradesh on January 19, and then culminate in Jammu and Kashmir on January 30.
After having taken a day's break, Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed on Saturday morning from Ladhowal Toll Plaza in the Ludhiana district of Punjab.
However, Yatra has since been halted for the time being following the MP's sudden demise, and Rahul Gandhi went to the hospital after hearing the news about Singh's death.
Punjab state chief Bhagwant Mann expressed his condolences on Twitter on the passing of the parliamentarian.
"I am deeply saddened by the untimely death of Congress Member of Parliament from Jalandhar, Santokh Singh Chowdhury.. May God rest his soul in peace.." Mann wrote on Twitter.
"In his long public life, he was always vocal on issues of public interest. Discipline in the House was the specialty of his personality. May God give peace to the departed soul. My condolences to the family members," parliament's lower house Speaker Om Birla wrote on Twitter, as he expressed grief over Singh's death.