Govt declares holiday in Chamarajanagar, Mysore districts

PTI, Apr 30, 2024, 10:03 AM IST

Mysore: The Karnataka government has declared a holiday in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts of the state on Tuesday in honour of BJP leader and former Union minister V Srinivas Prasad, who passed away in the early hours of Monday due to age-related ailments at a private hospital in Bengaluru.

“The Government has declared a holiday in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts as a mark of respect for the sitting MP Srinivas Prasad and the funeral will be held with state honours,” Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Monday.

The Karnataka CM also offered floral tribute on the mortal remains of Chamanivas Prasad and expressed his condolences to his family.
“When we met 15 days ago, we talked about politics. He didn’t say it was a happy moment. A happy moment in politics are very rare. There are few happy moments while struggling for social causes,” the Karnataka CM said while speaking to the reporters.

Lauding the late leader, Siddaramaiah said, “He also did politics with me and was a minister in the cabinet. It is very sad to lose someone who was with me in both the Janata Party and Congress. Srinivas Prasad was straight forward in his talks and fought against social inequalities.”
A Dalit leader in the Old Mysuru region, Prasad was in Congress but joined the Bharatiya Janata Party before the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections following a fallout with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The two had recently met in Mysuru and discussed the political scenario in the state.

Prasad extended support to the Congress in the Lok Sabha election 2024 and this is being seen as a crucial factor in the SC-reserved Chamarajanagar constituency, which Prasad represented in Parliament.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed his condolences over the demise of the BJP leader.

“I am extremely pained by the passing away of senior leader and MP from Chamarajanagar, Shri V. Sreenivasa Prasad Ji. He was a champion of social justice, having devoted his life to the welfare of the poor, downtrodden and marginalised. He was very popular for his various works of community service. Condolences to his family and supporters. Om Shanti,” the PM said in a post on X.

(With ANI inputs)