Karnataka - Belgaum   

People from all sections of society pay respects to B. Shankaranand

HOMAGE: Relatives and friends paying their respects to veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister B. Shankaranand who passed away in Belgaum on Friday.

Belgaum: A pall of gloom descended on Club Road, which houses the residence of former Union Minister B. Shankaranand (84), who passed away in a private hospital at about 2 a.m. here on Friday.

People from all sections of society came to pay their respects to the leader. The first among them were his friends S.B. Sidnal and L.B. Karale. Regional Commissioner C.M. Shirol, Deputy Commissioner G. Ravishankar and Superintendent of Police Soniya Narang were also present.

Several Congress leaders, including Veerkumar Patil, MLC, Prakash B. Hukkeri, MLA, Shashikant A. Naik, MLC, and Feroz Sait, MLA, and workers from the city and the district also paid their tributes to the leader.

The former Union Minister, C.K. Jaffer Sharief also, rushed to the city to see his old friend and colleague in Parliament.

District in-charge Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Minister for Cooperation Lakshman Savadi, Minister for Urban Development Balachandra L. Jarkiholi, Minister for Horticulture Umesh V. Katti and Ramesh Jigajinagi, MP, conveyed their condolences.

Mr. Shankaranand, who was born in a Dalit family on October 19, 1925 at Kanagala village of Hukkeri taluk, was a LL.B (Hons.) degree holder.

He was first elected to the Lok Sabha on Congress ticket in 1967. Thereafter, he won the Lok Sabha elections six times till 1991. However, he lost to political novice Ratnamala Kusnoor in the 1996 elections. After he tried his luck in 1998 polls unsuccessfully, he virtually took retirement from electoral politics. However, he continued to lend his experience and guidance to Congress leaders and workers in the State and district.

Mr. Shankaranand, who had earned the sobriquet “Ajat Shatru” (without an enemy), always received one and all with the same dignity and honour.

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