Rajput leader and Karni Sena founder Lokendra Singh Kalvi passed away at a state-run hospital here on Tuesday. According to reports, he suffered a cardiac arrest late in the night and breathed his last. Kalvi was admitted to the Sawai Man Singh Hospital for the past few days. His funeral will be held at his ancestral village in Nagaur district’s Kalvi village later in the day. The son of former Union minister Kalyan Singh Kalvi, Kalvi was the patron of Shree Rajput Karni Sena, which had led the 2018 protests against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film “Padmaavat” for alleged distortion of historical facts.He had also been a national-level basketball player.
The idea behind forming the Karni Sena was to preserve what he considers to be the cultural core of his community. He was the son of former Rajasthan minister Kalyan Singh Kalvi who was Agriculture Minister in the Government of Rajasthan during the period when Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was Chief Minister. Lokendra Singh Kalvi joined Congress in 2008 hoping that he would get a ticket but the party did not make him a candidate. Before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, Kalvi joined hands with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).Kalvi contested the Lok Sabha election from Barmer-Jaisalmer seat but his maiden poll campaign ended in a defeat. Notably, his father Kalyan Singh Kalvi was elected as a Member of Parliament from the same seat.