Jaipur, Oct. 5 -- Veteran Congress leader and former Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan assembly Rameshwar Lal Dudi passed away late on Friday night at the age of 62 after a prolonged illness. Confirming the development in a post on X, Dudi's fellow Congressman and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot wrote, "The demise of former LoP and Bikaner MP, Rameshwar Dudi, is really disheartening for all of us. His death, after battling with his illness for the last two years, will be a big loss. This shock is very personal to me." Dudi, renowned in Bikaner's Jatt community, started his political career with the Congress in 1995 when he was elected as a pradhan in Bikaner's Nokha Panchayat Samiti. In 1999, he was also elected as a member of parliament (MP) from Bikaner and became a part of the parliamentary committee on food, civil supplies, and public distribution. However, he lost the seat to popular Hindi film actor and BJP candidate Dharmendra in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. He was also the district chief of the Bikaner Zila Parishad from 2005 to 2010. Later, he was elected as a member of the legislative assembly (MLA) from Bikaner's Nokha constituency in 2013 with 70,801 votes, defeating the independent candidate Kanhaiya Lal Jhanwar. He served as the Leader of Opposition in the assembly against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under then-chief minister Vasundhara Raje. His tenure was made notable by an episode wherein he staged a 56-hour-long agitation in order to press the state government to immediately relax farm loan dues on the state's farmers up to Rs.50,000. Dudi lost the Bikaner seat to BJP's Biharilal Bishnoi in the 2018 assembly polls. A close aide of both Ashok Gehlot and his bete noire Sachin Pilot at the time, Dudi contested and subsequently lost the Rajasthan Cricket Association election in 2019 to Vaibhav Gehlot, the former chief minister's son. At the time , Dudi famously took a dig at Gehlot, referring to him as "Dhritrashtra". After he was appointed as a member of the Rajasthan Agro-Industries and Development Board in 2021, however, the period of disagreement between him and Gehlot eased. Three months before the 2023 assembly polls, which Dudi was slated to contest in, began, he suffered a sudden brain haemorrhage on August 27, 2023, at his Jaipur home. Later, his wife, Sushila Dudi, was fielded by Congress from the Nokha seat in his stead. She won the seat with a margin of 8,149 votes against BJP's incumbent MLA Biharilal Bishnoi Dudi was in a coma since the haemorrhage and was primarily being treated at Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital but later was shifted to Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon and then at the AIIMS in Delhi last year. Later, he was also brought back home to Bikaner a few months ago and was under the care of his family. However, his health deteriorated on Thursday after which he succumbed to his illness on Friday night, said Congress workers aware of the development. Recalling Dudi's contribution in Rajasthan politics, Gehlot wrote, "Dudi was dedicated to the farmers. I remember our last conversation when he paid me a visit to discuss some issues only a few days before he fell sick. We arranged all the best possible treatment facilities for him. It shocked all of us when Dudi, who always led an active political life, fell ill in this way. I pray to God for his peaceful afterlife." Pilot also honoured Dudi, saying:"Dudi had a remarkable journey as the LoP and the district chief in Bikaner. I had an opportunity to work with Dudi very close when I was the state president of the Congress. He played a crucial role in exposing BJP's anti-people policies. His dedication for the welfare and development of the farmers and the identity of a ground level leader will always be remembered." Extending his condolences, the former chief minister, Raje, also wrote, "Passing of former LoP Rameswar Dudi is really disheartening. Hope he rests in peace. My condolences is with his family." Chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully, Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra along with several key leaders from both Congress and BJP also reached Bikaner on Saturday to pay him their last respects and attended his funeral....