Union Minister HN Ananth Kumar passes away at 59

Union Minister Ananth Kumar passed away in the wee hours of Monday, November 12 in Bengaluru city.

The 59-year-old political leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was undergoing treatment for cancer at a Bengaluru hospital over the past couple of months.

Kumar hold charge of two key ministries during his political career - serving as the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers since May 2014 and as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs since July 2016 in the ruling Narendra Modi government. Since 1996, he has represented Bengaluru South constituency in the Lok Sabha.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted to express grief over his death. In a series of tweets, he wrote how Ananth Kumar was a 'remarkable leader, who entered public life at a young age and went on to serve society with utmost diligence and compassion.':

Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda took to Twitter to express sorrow over Ananth Kumar's demise, and posted a series of tweets, with caption: "Shocked, it's unbelievable, My friend, Brother Ananthkumar is no more":

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also tweeted to express grief over his death. In the tweet she wrote:

He became the President of the Karnataka state unit of BJP in 2003 after which he led the state unit, which became the single largest party in the Legislative Assembly. It won the highest number of Lok Sabha seats in 2004 in Karnataka. 

Born on 22 July 1959 in Bengaluru, Ananth Kumar did his graduation in faculty of Arts from K S Arts College, Hubli affiliated to the Karnataka University and later, completed his bachelors in Law(LLB) from JSS LAw College affialiated to KArnataka Univerity.

(With ANI inputs)