Buddhist monk and former Rajya Sabha member Dhammaviriyo Mahathera, who led a pro-BJP yatra as part of the party's Dalit outreach before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, has died at the age of 88.
BJP chief Amit Shah expressed his condolences, saying the country has lost a true social worker as he recalled his work for orphans and also in spreading Buddha's message.
"He was a messenger of peace," Shah said in a statement.
Dhammaviriyo had been associated with different political parties and was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Lalu Prasad-led RJD but had turned a supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies in his last years.
He led a 'Dhamma Chetna Yatra' in Uttar Pradesh last year spread across several months, in the run up to the Assembly polls which the BJP won handsomely.
It publicised Modi's pro-Dalit and pro-Ambedkar works and focussed on Dalit pockets of the state.
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