Karnataka Higher Education Minister Dr. V S Acharya dies of heart attack

Karnataka Higher Education Minister Dr. V S Acharya dies of heart attack

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Feb 14, 1012: Karnataka’s Higher Education Minister Dr. VS Acharya passed away in a private hospital in Bangalore today. He was 72.

He had left Mangalore this morning by flight and headed straight to a function at the Govt. Arts and Science College, Nrupatunga Road, Bangalore where he suddenly collapsed on stage following  a massive heart attack. He was taken to the Mallige hospital where he breathed his last.

 

   

 

Dr Acharya’s death was announced by Chief Minister V. Sadananda Gowda to reporters in Vidhan Soudha, the State Secretariat. “Dr. V. S. Acharya is no more with us”, Mr. Gowda told reporters minutes after the Minister’s death around 1.pm.

He had been keeping indifferent health for the last few months, prompting media speculation that he would be stepping down.

Dr. Vedavyas Srinivas Acharya (V S Acharya) started his political career in the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh (predecessor of Bharatiya Janata Party). He was elected as a municipal councillor, then as president in Udupi municipal council in 1968.  This was the first ever win of elected body in South India by the Jan Sangh. Udupi municipal council is the local governing body of Udupi town in coastal Karnataka. The BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani has recently told that the Jan Sangh victory in 1968 of Udupi municipal council laid foundation for BJP rule in south India, particularly the state of Karnataka in 2008, forty years later.

 

He had been jailed for 19 months during the 1975-77 internal emergency imposed by then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

V S Acharya has been a member of legislative council (M.L.C) of Karnataka state since 2002. Acharya served as Home Minister in the previous term. Known for his clean image, Acharya had served as minister of medical education and animal husbandry in the BJP-JDS coalition government also.

Schools and colleges will remain closed in Bangalore on Tuesday, and in Udupi on Wednesday February 15.

 

Acharya’s mortal remains have been shifted to his official residence on the Racecourse road, where it will remain till 3.30 pm. He will be flown to his home town Udupi later. The body will kept for public viewing 5 pm to 8 pm at DC’s office in Manipal. The final rites will be held at Bedangude Grounds in Udupi, his hometown.

He is a native of Udupi and a physician by profession. His father was Katte Vyasa Acharya, a Sanskrit scholar. He is survived by his wife, four sons and a daughter.

 

Down the memory lane

Felicitation by Padmashri Dr TMA Pai

 

 

with Shri Jayaprakash Narayan

 

Felicitation to Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee at Udupi

 

with Shri Ashok Singhal, President Vishwa Hindu Parishath