Union Minister Ananth Kumar Dies At 59.

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Ananth Kumar was suffering from cancer and had returned from the US last month after treatment at a cancer institute in New York

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Ananth Kumar served in earlier NDA government
2. He was first person to speak in Kannada in the United Nations
3. He was "youngest" minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet in 1998

 

Ananth Kumar, union Minister and senior BJP leader, died at a hospital in Bengaluru this morning. He was 59. Ananth Kumar was suffering from lung cancer and had returned from the US last month after treatment in New York.

The minister's wife Tejaswini and two daughters were with him in his last moments. His body has been kept at his home in Basavanagudi. On Tuesday, the body will be taken to Jagannath Bhavan, the BJP's state office in Malleshwaram and from there it will be taken to the National College grounds in Bengaluru for last respects. He will be cremated around 1 pm, state BJP General Secretary N Ravi Kumar said.

The national flag will fly at half mast across the country as a mark of respect to the union minister. Karnataka has announced a three-day state mourning and all schools, colleges and offices are closed today.

Ananth Kumar was one of the few ministers to have also served in the earlier BJP-led government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In fact, he was the youngest minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet in 1998 and was minister for Civil Aviation, Tourism, Sports, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation.

The six-time MP from Karnataka was the first person to speak in Kannada in the United Nations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi described him as a remarkable leader, an able administrator and a great asset to the BJP.

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said Mr Kumar was a "friend beyond politics" and a value-based politician. "Our families had a friendship beyond politics. He always valued and had given priority to friendship. I have lost a great friend in his death," the chief minister added.

A graduate in Arts and Law, Mr Kumar was associated with the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student organisation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), before joining the BJP in 1987.

As a student activist, he was also jailed along with other ABVP leaders during the Emergency of 1975.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996. In 1998, he became the youngest member of the Vajpayee cabinet and he returned as minister in 1999.

In 2003, he became the BJP's Karnataka chief. The party won the highest number of seats in the assembly and the Lok Sabha under his stewardship.

The parliamentarian from south Bengaluru constituency held charge of two ministries in the Narendra Modi government -- Chemicals and Fertilisers since May 2014 and Parliamentary Affairs since July 2016.

Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda expressed grief over his death. "Shocked, it's unbelievable. My friend, brother Ananth Kumar is no more," he wrote.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also expressed sorrow over his death. "Deep sense of grief on hearing that Shri Ananth Kumar is no more with us. Served BJP all along. Bengaluru was in his head and heart, always. May God give his family the strength to bear with this loss," she tweeted.

Opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal have also offered their condolences.

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Ananth Kumar dies at 59: A staunch RSS man, Bengaluru's 'most loved' MP

Bengaluru: A staunch RSS ideologue, a hard-boiled organisation man, Bengaluru's "most loved" MP and the first person to speak in Kannada in the United Nations are some of the connotations associated with Union Minister Ananth Kumar. Known for his political adroitness, Kumar, a six-time member of Parliament, gregarious with strong political instincts, had managed to be in the inner circle of the central leadership of the BJP -- be it during the heyday of Atal Bihari Vajpayee or LK Advani and now Narendra Modi.

Born in a middle-class Brahmin family on July 22, 1959, in Bengaluru to Narayan Shastri, a railway employee, and Girija N Shastry, his early education began under the guidance of his mother who herself was a graduate. Graduate in Arts and Law, Kumar's journey into public life began due to his association with the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a student organisation of the Sangh Pariwar, which he served in various capacities, including the state secretary and the national secretary.

Kumar had even demonstrated against the then Indira Gandhi government's imposition of Emergency and had also got imprisoned for it for about 30 days. With his steady political growth, his association with the Sangh, where he was mentored politically, also grew stronger. Looking for bigger ground in politics, Kumar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1987, where he went on to take up the responsibilities of state secretary, state president of the Yuva Morcha, general secretary and national secretary.

Along with state BJP chief Yeddyurappa, Kumar is among a few party leaders who can be credited for the growth of BJP in Karnataka, as they built the party from the scratch, which paved the way for the installation of the first-ever saffron party government in the South. Kumar began his parliamentary career when he got elected to Lok Sabha in 1996 from Bangalore South, the constituency which remained his strong fort till his passing sway, by winning it for six consecutive times.

He enjoyed the credit of being the "youngest" minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet in 1998. He served as the Civil Aviation Minister, also Minister for Tourism, Sports, Youth Affairs & Culture, Urban development & poverty alleviation. Kumar, who also held positions in various parliamentary committees, was serving as the Union Cabinet Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Chemicals and Fertilizers in the Narendra Modi led government, after winning the 15th Lok Sabha election from Bengaluru south by defeating IT Czar Nandan Nilekani.

He is widely credited for implementing Neem Coated Urea and setting up of Jan Aushadhi Kendras with focus on affordable quality health care. While being the all-important member of the BJP's parliamentary board, Kumar is often regarded as the "Delhi face" of the Karnataka BJP and also for the state government who could be counted upon for taking issues concerning Karnataka.

He is known to have had politically hostile relationship with Yeddyurappa on occasions and often faced accusations of meddling too much in Karnataka affairs, when the Lingayat strongman was at the helm of affairs in the state as its Chief Minister. Kumar is married to Dr Tejaswini and they have two daughters Aishwarya and Vijetha. Kumar is the Chief Patron of Adamya Chetana, an NGO involved in social work which he runs along with his wife in the memory of his mother Girija Shastry. 

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