Hundreds turn up for last rites of former Sailana MLA Lahling Devda, MP CM Yadav mourns loss
Madhya Pradesh’s Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expressed deep sorrow after the death of former Congress MLA Lahling Devda, a long‑time community leader from Sailana in Ratlam district. The 70‑year‑old politician passed away Friday evening in a Vadodara hospital after a four‑day struggle on the way to the state’s top trauma centre.
Devda was badly injured when a speeding motorcycle slammed into him from behind on the roads near his home in Chawani Bhabhar, a village in Bajna. The crash, which happened around 7 pm on November 5, left him with severe head and body trauma. He was rushed to Bajna Government Hospital, then to Ratlam District Hospital and finally airlifted to Vadodara for emergency surgery. Despite intensive care and a cranial operation, he died at 6:45 pm.
His body was returned to Chawani Bhabhar and his cremation took place Saturday morning at the village crematorium. Hundreds of mourners from the surrounding tribal areas joined the funeral, underscoring Devda’s deep ties to the community.
Police opened a case after Devda’s nephew, Laxman, filed a complaint. Authorities seized a motorcycle found 200 meters from the crash scene. CCTV footage from a gram panchayat office and a local shop is being reviewed, and sketches of the two young riders—believed to be in their early 20s—are expected by evening.
Devda was first elected MLA in 1993 on a Congress ticket, defeating Janata Dal’s Bherusingh Damor by 12,000 votes. He championed irrigation projects and tribal reservations and briefly joined the BJP in the late 1990s before returning to Congress, where he mentored young Adivasi leaders. Colleagues remember him as a simple, approachable figure who always remembered names, earning him the nickname “people’s Lahling bhai.”
Congress leaders and residents alike called him “Sailana’s heartbeat.” His passing has left a powerful void in the region’s political landscape.
Source: ianslive
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