New Delhi, Sept 23, 2020: Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi died September 23 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He was hospitalized September 11 after he contracted COVID-19. He was 65.
The leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party leader was a four-time Member of Parliament. A lawyer by training, he was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2004 and won continuously from Belagavi constituency in Karnataka state.
He is survived by his mother, wife, and two daughters.
“He passed away at 8 p.m. on September 23 and was under medical care at AIIMS Trauma Centre for the past 15 days,” said a senior AIIMS official. Earlier this month the minister made the announcement of his diagnosis on twitter. He had said, “I have tested COVID-19 positive. I am doing fine.”
In a tweet condoling the death, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Angadi as “an exceptional karyakartha (volunteer)” who worked hard to make the party strong in Karnataka. “He was a dedicated MP and effective Minister, admired across the spectrum. His demise is saddening,” the prime minister tweeted. Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa described him as a “soft and gentle politician”.
Angadi was among the senior leaders of the BJP in north Karnataka. He was among the earliest Lingayat leaders from non-Sangh Parivar background to join the saffron party in Karnataka. He was part of the team that organized L.K. Advani’s rath yatra in the region. He had the image of a soft spoken, non-controversial leader. Angadi had set up a series of colleges at Belagavi, some 510 km northwest of Bengaluru, the Karnataka capital.
Source: thehindu.com