IMPHAL, Sept 30 � Speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly Dr Sapam Budhichandra passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi this morning.
Dr Budhichandra, 71, had been at the intensive care unit of the AIIMS as his health condition turned critical following complaint of back pain since September 4. He passed away around 3.30 am.
Sources in Manipur Bhavan of New Delhi said Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh and Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Gaikhan-gam, who were in the National Capital, visited the bereaved family at the hospital.
The body of the Speaker will be flown back to his Imphal residence tomorrow, the source added.
Manipur Assembly Secretariat and MPCC have prepared to observe condolence service on the arrival of the body in Imphal prior to the traditional funeral rites at his Konthoujam Awang Leikai village in Manipur�s Imphal West District.
Born to Sapam Mani Singh and late Sapam Ongbi Konthoujam Angoubi Devi, Dr Budhichandra, a Congress MLA from Konthoujam Assembly Constituency since 2004, was elected unopposed as the Speaker of 9th Manipur Legislative Assembly on March 16, 2007.
As a doctor by profession he had served in various parts of the State before he took voluntary retirement in 1999 after 27 years of government service.
He is survived by his wife and two sons and a daughter.
He had served as a general secretary of MPCC from the year 2000 besides being a Member, Election Committee from 2001 to 2004.
As a Speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly, he attended the 53rd, 54th, and 55th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference held in New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Arusha (Tanzania) in the year 2007, 2008 and 2009.
On Wednesday, Manipur�s former Works Minister Z Mangaibou, who lost in the last Assembly election from Tamei AC in Tamenglong district, also expired after a brief illness at his Tarung village residence in Imphal.
