Union minister Ananth Kumar died at a Bengaluru hospital on Monday morning. He was 59. He is survived by wife Tejaswini and two daughters. Ananth Kumar was suffering from cancer.
Elected from the south Bengaluru constituency, Kumar held charge of two ministries in the Narendra Modi government — Chemicals and Fertilisers since May 2014 and Parliamentary Affairs since July 2016.
A senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Kumar had also served in the earlier BJP-led government at the Centre led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was then minister for Civil Aviation, Tourism, Sports, Urbal Development and Poverty Alleviation.
Ananth Kumar was long associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student organisation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) before he joined the BJP in the 1980s.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter that he was “Extremely saddened by the passing away of my valued colleague and friend, Shri Ananth Kumar Ji. He was 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. Ananth Kumar Ji was an able administrator, who handled many ministerial portfolios and was a great asset to the BJP organisation…”
President Ram Nath Kovind, Opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal were among others who offered their condolences. Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy said Kumar was a “friend beyond politics”.
Karnataka has announced a three-day state mourning.
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