VARANASI, Jan. 9 -- Samajwadi Party (SP) veteran and eight-time MLA Vijay Singh Gond, who represented the Duddhi Assembly constituency in Sonbhadra district, died on Thursday at a Lucknow hospital. He was 71. Gond was undergoing treatment for kidney-related issues at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) in Lucknow. He had won the Duddhi seat in the 2024 bypoll as the SP candidate. The by-election was held after the then MLA Ramdular Gond was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment in a case related to the alleged rape of a minor. SP president Akhilesh Yadav visited SGPGIMS and paid his respects. He met family members and consoled them. UP assembly speaker Satish Mahana expressed deep sorrow over Gond's demise. He said the late MLA was a popular public representative who worked with dedication for the development of his constituency and the upliftment of underprivileged sections of society. "Vijay Singh Gond was unwell for a long time and was under treatment in Lucknow. His demise is an irreparable loss to the region and the tribal community," said Avadh Narayan Yadav, SP Duddhi Assembly constituency president. According to Ramnihor Yadav, Sonbhadra district unit SP president, Gond's body will be kept for public viewing at his native village Khatauli on Friday, where the last rites will be performed. The flag at the party district office in Sonbhadra will remain at half-mast for two days. Gond represented the Duddhi Assembly seat a record eight times. He secured seven consecutive wins from the seat. During the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led government, he held the status of minister of state. He lost by narrow margins in the 2017 and 2022 elections but regained the seat in the 2024 by-election. Gond first became MLA from the Congress party in 1980. He won consecutively on a Congress ticket in 1985, as an independent in 1989, on a Janata Dal ticket in 1991 and 1993, and on a Samajwadi Party ticket in 1996 and 2002....