Bengaluru: Veteran politician, BJP MP and former Union Minister V Srinivasa Prasad died on Monday, family sources said.
The 76-year-old Lok Sabha member from Chamarajnagar was ailing for some time and being treated at a private hospital, where he passed away early today.
Prasad is survived by wife and three daughters.
He was a six-time MP from Chamarajanagar and also served as MLA from Nanjangud in Mysuru district for two terms.
On March 18 this year, Prasad announced his retirement from electoral politics, marking his 50 years in public life.
He first contested Assembly elections as an independent in 1974.
Prasad joined the erstwhile Janata Party in 1976 and switched over to the Congress in 1979. He also had a stint with the JD(S), JD (U), and the Samata Party before crossing over to the BJP.
Prasad served as the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government from 1999 to 2004.
He returned to the Congress fold later, got elected as an MLA in 2013 and became Revenue Minister in the Siddaramaiah government.
In 2016, Prasad resigned from the Assembly and rejoined the BJP. He contested the 2017 Nanjangud bypolls on a BJP ticket but lost. He then successfully fought the Lok Sabha election from Chamarajanagar in 2019.
Condoling his death, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah described Prasad as a strong voice for the oppressed Dalits.
“The departure of the leader who lived the struggle against injustice and inequality is a big setback for the political struggle for social justice in the state,” he added.
“He was a progressive-thinking political leader. Although we worked in different parties for a long time in old Mysuru region, we maintained a respectful relationship with each other. When I met him recently, we reminisced. I never thought Prasad would leave us so soon,” the CM said.
BJP stalwart and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said: ‘I met him only a few days ago and I can’t believe that he is not with us now. He was recognised as an influential Dalit leader who had made his mark in the politics of the state and the country.”
