Mayawati Mourns BSP's Lone Uttar Pradesh MLA Uma Shankar Singh

Uma Shankar Singh was an important politician in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

He belonged to a political party called the Bahujan Samaj Party, or BSP.

Most BSP leaders come from Dalit communities, but Uma Shankar was from a different community called Kshatriya, or Thakur.

He was the only BSP member in the state assembly, and he won elections from a place called Rasra three times.

People liked him because he helped them with money and brought free internet to parts of his area.

The party's leader, Mayawati, was very sad when he died.

She said he was like a brother who never left her, even when the party was going through hard times.

Mayawati had asked him to bring more people from his community into the party.

He was sick with cancer for two years and had faced checks from the Income-Tax Department.

His death is a big loss for the BSP's plans.