Who was Chamarajanagar MP Srinivas Prasad?

The former Union Minister and BJP leader passed away fighting age-related ailments, at a private Bengaluru hospital during the early hours of Monday. He was 76.

Srinivas Prasad, the Chamarajanagar MP, and former Union Minister passed away at 76, due to age-related ailments.

The BJP leader had been admitted to a private hospital in Bengaluru, where he breathed his last in the wee hours of Monday morning.

Prasad announced his retirement from politics on March 17, after completing the golden jubilee of his political career. However, his Mysuru residence remained a hotbed for politics, with both CM Siddaramaiah and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa calling on the late veteran to seek his support.

Prasad was born to M Venkataiah and D V Puttamma in Ashokapuram, Mysuru, on July 6, 1947. He entered electoral politics on March 17, 1974, contesting the Krishnaraja Assembly by-poll as an Independent candidate.

He was a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteer till 1972. He was also active in both the Jan Sangh and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Prasad fought 14 elections, winning eight. Of the nine Lok Sabha polls he contested from Chamarajanagar, he won six. Prasad was a Union Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet from 1999 to 2004, when he was the Lokajanashakthi MP. He was also elected twice as an MLA and also served as the Karnataka Revenue Minister between 2013 and 2016. Siddaramaiah was the CM at that time too.

Over his vast career, Prasad initially joined the Janata Party in 1976 and Congress in 1979. He's also been a part of the Janata Dal (United), Samata Party, and Janata Dal (Secular). He rejoined the INC till quitting it in 1996 after being denied a Lok Sabha poll contesting ticket. He returned to the Congress in 2006.

Prasad had joined BJP after his 2016 ouster by the Congress and also acted as the Vice President of the Karnataka unit of the saffron party.

He is survived by Bhagyalakshmi, his wife, and three daughters— Prathima Prasad, Poornima, and Poonam. He also has a son-in-law Devraj who is an IRS officer working as the GST Commissioner (Appeals) in Hyderabad.

While Prasad’s relatives and supporters, including his brother V Ramaswamy and nephew Bharat Ramaswamy, joined the Congress under Siddaramaiah's leadership on April 2, Prasad’s sons-in-law Dr N S Mohan and former MLA B Harshavardhan have been seen at numerous election meetings including one where PM Narendra Modi was present, in Mysuru, on April 14.