NEW DELHI/BENGALURU:
Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi became the first serving Union cabinet minister to succumb to Covid-19. He was admitted to AIIMS in New Delhi on September 11 after testing positive for the coronavirus, and died on Wednesday evening. According to sources, he was on ventilator support in the ICU at AIIMS since the last three days.
Angadi, 65, is the second member of Parliament from Karnataka to die of the deadly virus.
PM’s condolence
In a tweet condoling the death of his party and cabinet colleague, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Shri Suresh Angadi was an exceptional karyakarta, who worked hard to make the party strong in Karnataka. He was a dedicated MP and effective minister, admired across the spectrum. His demise is saddening. My thoughts are with his family and friends in this sad hour. Om Shanti.” ]
4-time MP
A four-time MP from Belagavi district in Karnataka, Angadi was elevated as MoS for Railways in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet and was very pro-active in pushing for long-pending railway projects for Karnataka and his home district Belagavi.
Born on June 1, 1955, Suresh Angadi was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2004 during the government of then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. He was subsequently re-elected in 2008, 2014 and 2019.
‘Smiling and caring person’
Angadi’s Parliament colleague, Prabhakar Kore, in a tribute said he was a smiling, happy and caring person. “He was not diabetic, nor did he have blood pressure. I had spoken to him when he was admitted at AIIMS but did not think we would lose him like this,” Kore said.