Amreli, May 19: Former Gujarat agriculture minister Vallabhbhai Vaghasiya died after the car he was driving crashed into a bulldozer near Savarkundla town in Amreli district of the state, police said on Friday. The accident took place on Thursday night, an official of Vanda police station said. Vaghasiya, 69, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Savarkundla assembly seat, had served as the agriculture and urban housing minister in the first term of the Vijay Rupani government.

He was returning to Savarkundla from a village when the accident occurred around 8.30 pm on a state highway near Vanda village. One person accompanying him in the vehicle sustained injuries, the police official said. The former minister suffered injuries after the car he was driving rammed into a bulldozer. He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead, the police said.

A large number of party leaders and his supporters gathered at the hospital after learning about the accident. "Former MLA of Savarkundla seat and ex-minister V V Vaghasiya died in a road accident. The leader who worked as a skilled organiser and a mass leader, and served the people of Amreli is no more with us. We pray for his departed soul and strength to his family to bear the loss," said sitting BJP MLA from Savarkundla, Mahesh Kaswala.

Amreli MLA Kaushik Vekariya said that Mr Vaghasiya will be remembered for his commitment to the welfare of the people of the region. Vaghasiya had won the 2012 Assembly election as a BJP MLA from the Savarkundla seat, and was sworn in as a minister in the Vijay Rupani government in 2016.