Union cabinet minister Ananth Kumar passes away

Bengaluru: Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar died at a private hospital here in the early hours of Monday after battling lung cancer for several months. Kumar, 59, breathed his last around 2 am with his wife Tejaswini and two daughters by his bedside, Sankara Hospital Director Nagaraj told PTI.

He had come back to Bengaluru only recently after undergoing treatment in the US and Britain. He was later under treatment at the Sankara Hospital here.

The last rites of Ananth Kumarwould be performed on Tuesday afternoon.The mortal remains of Kumar would be placed at his residence in Basavana gudi for the entire day today. By 8 AM on Tuesday, it would be taken to Jagannath Bhavan, BJP state office at Malleshwaram, where arrangements would be made for party workers and his followersto pay their last respects.

Kumar’s body would then be taken to National College Ground in the city for public to pay their respects, and the last rites would be performed at 1 PM at Chjamarajapete crematorium, the statement added.

Kumar passed away from complications following cancer and infections.He had been on the ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit for the last few days, it said.

Expressing his grief, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was extremely saddened by the passing away of “my valued colleague and friend” and described him as a remarkable leader, who entered public life at a young age and went on to serve society with utmost diligence and compassion.

He will always be remembered for his good work, he said in a tweet.

“Ananth Kumar Ji was an able administrator, who handled many ministerial portfolios and was a great asset to the BJP organisation. He worked hard to strengthen the Party in Karnataka, particularly in Bengaluru and surrounding areas. He was always accessible to his constituents,” Modi said in another tweet.

The Prime Minister said he spoke to Kumar’s wife Dr Tejaswini and expressed condolences. “My thoughts are with his entire family, friends and supporters in this hour of grief and sadness. Om Shanti,” he said.

A a six-time member of Parliament, Kumar had climbed the political ladder steadily from being an RSS worker to be the Union minister in his thirties. He joined the BJP in 1987 and never looked back, as he held posts of state secretary, state president of the Yuva Morcha, general secretary and national secretary. Kumar first got elected to Lok Sabha in 1996 from Bangalore South, the constituency, which remained his bastion till his passing away.