Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Apr 27 (IANS): Karuna Shukla, a Congress leader and the niece of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, died of Covid-19 in the Ramakrishna Care hospital in Raipur. After testing positive for the virus, she was undergoing treatment at the hospital here.

Shukla breathed her last late on Monday evening.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel tweeted, "My Karuna 'Chachi' (referring to Karuna Shukla) is no more. Covid-19 took her life as well. I had a very close family relationship with her outside of politics and I continued to receive her blessings. God give her space in his abode and provide us the courage to bear this irreparable loss."

Karuna Shukla, who was currently the Chairman of the Social Welfare Board in Chhattisgarh, was associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a long time. Karuna Shukla, who was with the BJP from 1982 to 2013, was upset with the party and had joined the Congress. In the 2018 state Assembly elections, she had contested from Rajnandgaon constituency against former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh but lost to him.