Senior Samajwadi Party leader and Minister of State for Rural Engineering Rajendra Singh Rana passed away in Saharanpur on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer.
The minister who held independent charge of the department joined the Samajwadi Party before the 2012 state assembly elections and went on to become a legislator from Deoband in western Uttar Pradesh.
Family members said he was suffering from cancer for almost a year and that his condition deteriorated a month back.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Azam Khan are scheduled to travel to Saharanpur to attend Rana's funeral, district officials told IANS.
In a condolence message, Yadav called Rana a "fine and hard working colleague".
