Karnataka Higher Education Minister V S Acharya passed away in Bangalore on Tuesday following a heart attack. He was 71.
Acharya who was attending a function in the city collapsed on the dais and was rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead.He is survived by his wife, four sons and a daughter.
The minister arrived from Udupi on Tuesday and arrived for a seminar at the Government Science college on Nrupathunga Road. As he was walking towards the stage, he collapsed.
A long line of visitors, with politicians cutting across parties, paid their respect to the leader. Teary eyed chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda said that the state and the nation had lost a great leader.
Acharya had been ailing for the last few months and was using a wheel chair to move around. A gentleman and a long time member of the BJP, Acharya earlier held the portfolio of Home Ministry before being shifted as the Higher education minister. Known for strong integrity and honesty, Acharya was one of the few people responsible for the formation of the first non-Congress government in Karnataka in 1983. The Janata Party government headed by Ramakrishna Hegde was supported by 18 BJP MLAs and Acharya.
Acharya had the reputation of speaking his mind on various issues and this landed him in controversies on numerous occasions. His strong allegiance to the RSS landed him a tight spot more than once - be it the church attacks or the recent controversy over Made Snana. He also had a personal blog where he took potshots at media.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/acharya-one-of-the-rare-politicians-of-integrity/230209-62-129.html
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/acharya-one-of-the-rare-politicians-of-integrity/230209-62-129.html
A medical practitioner by profession, Dr Vedavyasa Srinivasa Acharya was a rare politician known for his integrity and public probity. Karnataka Higher Education Minister, who died after massive heart attack during a function in Bangalore on Tuesday, became President of Udupi Municipality at the age of 28 in 1968, playing a key role in bringing the erstwhile Jana Sangh to power.
In later years, he became the Udupi district BJP President and State BJP President. During the Emergency in 1975-77 he was imprisoned under 'MISA' for 19 months.
He was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1983.A member of the Legislative Council at the time of his death, the soft-spoken Acharya also held the portfolios of Planning and Statistics, Muzrai, Information Technology and Biotechnology.
Born on July 6, 1939 in Udupi, Acharya was President of the BJP Manifesto committee in 2008.LK Advani had often said the victory in Udupi more than four decades ago had laid a foundation for a BJP rule in south (Karnataka).
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