New Delhi: Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi died of COVID-19 on Wednesday, becoming the first union minister to succumb to the deadly virus.
The 65-year-old BJP MP passed away around 8 pm at the AIIMS trauma centre which has been converted into a dedicated COVID-19 facility, sources at the hospital said.
He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
A fourth-term parliamentarian from Belagavi in Karnataka, Angadi had on September 11 announced on Twitter that he had contracted the disease and had requested all those who came in close contact with him in the previous days to monitor their health and get tested in case of any symptoms. He is the first Union minister to have died of coronavirus. At least six MLAs and three MPs have earlier succumbed to it. Former president Pranab Mukherjee, who died on August 31, was also diagnosed as COVID-19 positive.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Union ministers and BJP leaders condoled the death of Angadi. The national flag will be flown at half-mast on Thursday in all government offices in Delhi, the home ministry said.
Born on June 1, 1955 in a Lingayat family to Somawwa and Channabasappa Angadi in Koppa village in Belagavi, Angadi graduated from SSS Samiti College of Commerce in the same district. He did his law graduation from Raja Lakhamgouda Law College in Belagavi.
A businessman by profession, Angadi got a major break in his political career when he was appointed as BJP vice president in Belagavi in 1996, and worked his way up in the party.
He was elected MP in the Lok Sabha election in 2004, and again in 2009. He was elected for a third term in 2014, when the BJP came to power at the Centre, and for a fourth term in the general election last year, after which he was made Union Minister of State for Railways.
As the junior Railway Minister, Angadi was soft-spoken but stern while responding to media queries on various aspects of the national transporters performance. He was always armed with facts and figures of projects that were underway while addressing the media.
Angadi was instrumental in pushing through the long pending Bengaluru suburban rail service. The Rs 15,990 crore project aims to connect 148.17km of the city through four corridors and has a 2025 deadline.
(with inputs from agencies)
