Karnataka's Minister for Higher Education V.S. Acharya died here on Tuesday following an acute myocardial infarction (heart attack). He was 71. He is survived by wife, four sons and a daughter.
Dr. Acharya, who arrived here from Udupi in the morning, reached the Government Science College on Nrupathunga Road, where he was scheduled to participate in a seminar. As he was walking towards the dais, Dr. Acharya collapsed. He was rushed to the Mallige Medical Centre on Crescent Road. Doctors declared him “brought dead,” as the Minister breathed his last at the gate of the hospital at 1.02 p.m.
Dr. Acharya had been keeping indifferent health for the last few months, prompting media speculation that he would be stepping down.
A doctor by profession, Dr. Acharya became a member of the Legislative Council in 1996. One of the senior-most members of the Cabinet, he also held the Home portfolio till a couple of months ago.
As news of Dr. Acharya's death spread, various politicians, including Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister S. Suresh Kumar, Major Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani, other Ministers and former Ministers, MLAs and MLCs from all parties visited the hospital to pay their last respects.
Fighting back tears, the Chief Minister described Dr. Acharya as his “political guru.” “He was a statesman, a man of integrity and a party loyalist. He did not have a single black-mark in politics and was duty-conscious till the last minute,” Mr. Gowda told presspersons while leaving the hospital.
