LUCKNOW, Nov 29: Gunmen shot dead an opposition Hindu nationalist legislator and seven others on Tuesday in northern India, a senior state official said.

Krishnanand Rai was on his way to a wedding when attackers ambushed his jeep and sprayed it with bullets, Alok Sinha, principal home secretary of Uttar Pradesh state, said.

Rai and seven others — including supporters and security guards — were killed near Ballia town, 350km southeast of the state capital Lucknow, Sinha said.

The politician was extremely popular in the mainly poor eastern part of the state and was regarded by some as a Robin Hood figure.

Rai was rushed to hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.

The slain legislator, a member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was facing some 40 criminal charges including kidnapping and murder, Sinha said.

The BJP is the main opposition party in Uttar Pradesh — India’s most populous state and a politically crucial one, as it sends 80 members to parliament.

Police said they were investigating the shooting but suspected Rai was a victim of inter-gang rivalry.—AFP