Former Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vijay Rupani died in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday, Union Minister CR Paatil was quoted as saying by PTI.

Rupani was among 242 persons onboard Air India flight AI171 headed for London, which crashed barely a minute after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport.

“Our leader and former Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani, was going [to London] to meet his family,” Paatil was quoted as saying by PTI. “He is also a victim in this incident. May his soul rest in peace. This is a big loss for the BJP.”

Rupani is the second Gujarat chief minister to die in a plane crash. The first was former Chief Minister Balwantrai Mehta, whose plane was shot down by a Pakistani fighter pilot during the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

Rupani became Gujarat’s chief minister in August 2016 following BJP leader Anandiben Patel’s resignation and served office until 2021, when Bhupendra Patel succeeded him.

At the time of his elevation, he was the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state president and a minister. He had been a first-time MLA from Rajkot West and was widely seen as a protégé of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, The Hindu reported.

He was the only BJP chief minister of Gujarat after Narendra Modi to have held the post for over five years.

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