Ananth Kumar, Senior BJP leader and cabinet minister, passed away in the wee hours on Monday in private hospital in Bengaluru. He was 59. He breathed his last at 1:50 am. Ananth Kumar, the union minister was suffering from cancer and had returned from the US last month after treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, New York. He was admitted to Sri Shankara Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Basavanagudi.
At the last moment, Ananth Kumar’s wife Tejaswini and his two daughters were with him. His body will be kept at National College in Bengaluru for last tributes.
Ananth Kumar was one of the few ministers to have served in the earlier NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was the youngest minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cabinet in 1998 and served as the Civil Aviation minister, also Minister for Tourism, Sports, the Youth Affairs and Culture, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation. He represented Bengaluru South since 1996, and won non-stop for 6 terms. He was 59 years. In his second term, Ananth Kumar became Union Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet.
in the 1980 and 1990s, Ananth Kumar, B.S.Yeddyurappa and KS Eshwarappa were the face of the BJP ( Bhartiya Janatha Party) in Karnataka.
In his first election in 1996, Ananth Kumar defeated Varalakshmi Gundu Rao, wife of former CM the late Gundu Rao, and in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he defeated then UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani by a huge margin.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has expressed grief over the death of Ananth Kumar. In a message he said, “I am sorry to hear about the passing of Union Minister Ananth Kumar Ji, in Bengaluru, earlier this morning. My condolences to his family and friends. May his soul rest in peace. Om Shanti.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “My thoughts are with his entire family, friends and supporters in this hour of grief and sadness. Om Shanti.”