Veteran Indian National Congress leader and former Amreli Member of Parliament Virji Thummar passed away at his residence in Amreli, Gujarat, on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 67. Thummar, who began his public life as a farmer leader, went on to serve the Amreli Lok Sabha constituency and later represented Lathi in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly.

Circumstances of Death

According to Amreli district Congress president Pratap Dudhat, Thummar died at approximately 12:15 pm on Wednesday after battling cancer for the past four years. He was born on 31 May 1959 and was a commerce graduate who entered public life through farmers' issues rather than conventional party channels — a fact that shaped his political identity throughout his career.

A Career Rooted in Farmers and Cooperatives

Thummar's political journey began at the grassroots level, when he became a member of the Amreli district panchayat at a young age. He subsequently won the Babra Assembly constituency in three successive elections — 1990, 1995, and 1998 — before making the transition to national politics. In the 2004 Lok Sabha election, he won the Amreli parliamentary seat, representing the constituency until 2009.

Returning to state-level politics, Thummar was elected as the Congress MLA from Lathi in 2017, serving until 2022. He contested the Lathi seat again in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections but lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate. Within the Congress organisation, he held the positions of general secretary and vice-president, and also headed the state unit of the Kisan Congress. He was additionally associated with the cooperative sector in Amreli, further cementing his ties to agricultural communities.

Tributes from Congress and BJP

Congress national general secretary and Gujarat in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala described Thummar as 'an important pillar of the state party unit,' saying his death had left the party 'deeply saddened.' Surjewala stated: 'With his demise, a banyan tree of the Congress family has departed from among us,' recalling Thummar's simplicity, affection for people, sense of duty, and close association with farming and farmers. He extended condolences to Thummar's family, friends, and supporters, and specifically to his daughter and party leader Jenny Thummar.

Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Amit Chavda and Leader of the Congress Legislature Party Dr Tushar Chaudhary said the party had lost a senior leader who had provided effective leadership in both the cooperative sector and within the party. 'Thummar had spent his long public life raising issues concerning farmers, the cooperative sector and ordinary people. His death had left a major gap in the Congress and the state's public life,' they said. Leaders from the ruling BJP also paid their tributes following his death.

The Next Generation

Thummar's political legacy is set to continue through his daughter Jenny Thummar, who is active in politics and contested the Amreli Lok Sabha seat for the Congress in the 2024 general election. His passing marks the end of a four-decade chapter in Gujarat's Congress politics, with tributes pouring in from across party lines.