Former Union Minister Srinivas Prasad, a popular Dalit leader from Karnataka, passed away at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Monday, April 29. He was 76. According to the family, Prasad passed away after suffering a heart attack in the early hours of Monday. He also suffered from multiple organ failure and was admitted to the hospital three days ago.
Srinivas Prasad is survived by his wife, Prathima Prasad, and daughters – Purnima Prasad and Poonam Prasad. Purnima Prasad informed the media that the body would be kept at his residence in Jayalakshmipuram, Mysuru for the people to pay their last respects. The last rites will be performed according to Buddhist tradition as he is a converted Buddhist.
Srinivas Prasad is credited for helping the BJP make inroads in south Karnataka. He is a six-time MP from Chamarajanagar. He began his political career by being a member of the ABVP. In his long spanning career, he worked with several parties including Congress, Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)), Samata Dal and the BJP.
He had earlier served as the Union Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government, after winning the Chamarajanagar seat in 1999 as a Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) candidate.
In 2016, he rejoined the BJP. Due to him the BJP won the Chamarajanagar seat for the first time in the 2019 general election.
Recently he had announced retirement from electoral politics.
Expressing shock over the death, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the demise of Srinivas Prasad was a big setback for the struggle towards social justice. “He was a progressive-thinking political leader. We had retained a good, respectful relationship despite being attached to different political parties.”
State BJP President BY Vijayendra said, "Srinivas Prasad chose the BJP party at the fag end of his political career and helped the party reach out to the masses over its principles, ideology, and nationalism. His demise has created a vacuum at the national level."