Former minister and JD(S) MLA MC Managuli died due to Covid-19 complications at a private hospital in Bengaluru, in the early hours of Thursday. The two-time MLA from Sindgi constituency in Vijayapura district was 85.
He had served as a minister twice, recently as horticulture minister in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy, which came to power in 2018. He was Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, in JH Patel's Janata Dal government.
Several senior leaders, including Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, condoled the demise of the senior legislator. First elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1994, he had lost four subsequent elections from the constituency before his re-election in 2018.
Expressing shock over the demise of Managuli, Yediyurappa said that the state has lost a senior leader.
Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda said that he was saddened by the demise of Managuli, who was his political and personal companion of many decades.
JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy said that Managuli was a mentor to him and a strong proponent of the party. "Whether we were in power or not, he had always been with us," the former CM said, adding that it was a loss to the JD(S) family.
KPCC president D K Shivakumar also expressed condolences over his demise.
Managuli was airlifted to Bengaluru on January 9, after suffering from breathing complications.
He is the second Karnataka MLA to succumb to the Covid-19 infection in the state, after Basavakalyan Congress MLA B Narayan Rao's death last year. Two other elected representatives from the state, former Union minister Suresh Angadi and Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Gasti, have also died of Covid-19.