Higher Education Minister V.S. Acharya, who died in Bangalore on Tuesday, was a gentle, soft-speaking politician with no hang-ups.
Well-versed with all administrative and legislative matters, he could hold forth on any matter. He could quote statistics at will; such was his grasp of the matters. As the Opposition MLC, Dr. Acharya always used to comment mostly on matters related to finance and power, besides others.
His grasp of financial matters was exceptional. Perhaps, he was the best Finance Minister the State never had.
One hardly saw any crowd around Dr. Acharya. If any person went to him for any work, he would be frank in giving his assessments as to whether it was possible or not possible for him to do it.
He was among the few Ministers who personally received calls on his phone. When he called a journalist, he did it himself. This was the case since he became an MLC in 1996.
When he was in the Opposition, Dr. Acharya used to drive his car himself to all functions. He was proud of the fact that he drove his car not just in Udupi but also in Bangalore. “Although I have been driving for many decades, there has never been a single road accident,” he said.
Perhaps no other politician in Udupi district enjoyed as good media relations as Dr. Acharya, when he was an MLC belonging to the Opposition party. He would personally call the journalists to give his comments on the budget and other important developments.
In the present era of “Aya Rams and Gaya Rams” and party hopping, Dr. Acharya began his political career with the Bharatiya Jana Sangh/Bharatiya Janata Party and remained steadfastly loyal to it.
Impressed by the development in the United States and Malaysia, he wanted to replicate the same in the State.
Dr. Acharya wanted to see the traditional temple town of Udupi becoming a modern and vibrant city. He always dreamt big for Udupi. When he got that opportunity as a Minister, he changed the face of Udupi.
With single-minded determination, he got the District Offices Complex built at Rajatadri in Manipal on 12 acres of land at a cost of Rs. 30 crore. The District Offices Complex brought 43 government departments and the zilla panchayat under a single building. This was his biggest dream for Udupi.
His other big dream was to convert the narrow Kalsank-Kadiyali Road linking Udupi with Manipal into a four-lane road. He succeeded in realising this dream as well.
Besides, narrow roads in many parts of the city were converted into four-lane roads.
