Minister for Cooperation and Sugar H.S. Mahadeva Prasad (58), who died at a resort in Chikkamagaluru on Tuesday, represented the Gundlupet Assembly constituency five consecutive times, besides emerging as a close confidant of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Born in an agricultural family at Halahalli in Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajanagar district, he did his postgraduation in University of Mysore before joining politics. In his political career, he drifted from the Janata Dal (U) and the Janata Dal(S) before joining the Congress and held various portfolios as a Minister.
After unsuccessfully contesting from Gundlupet Assembly constituency in 1985 and 1989, he had a winning streak from 1994 to 2013.
Mr. Mahadeva Prasad fortified his status as a prominent leader in the region after his maiden electoral victory in 1994 when he trounced three-time MLA K. S. Nagaratnamma and never looked back despite shifting his loyalty from Janata Dal to Congress, which he joined in 2008 along with leaders such as M.P. Prakash.
He held the portfolio of Food and Civil Supplies in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government led by N. Dharam Singh in 2004 and later held the Kannada and Culture portfolio in the JD(S)-BJP coalition government. The entry of Mr. Mahadeva Prasad into Congress helped galvanise the party in Chamarajanagar district as he had emerged as a prominent Lingayat leader in the belt and was responsible for strengthening it at the grassroots level as evident in the party’s strong grip in local bodies. He also served as vice-president of Karnataka State Adult Education Council from 1990 to 1998 and was the Senate and Syndicate Member of the University of Mysore 1994 to 1999. He also headed various organisations involved in social services. Mr. Mahadeva Prasad is survived by his wife M.C. Mohan Kumari (Geetha) and son Ganesh Prasad.
Big loss to State: CM
Meanwhile, Mr. Siddaramaiah has expressed shock over the death of his close associate.
The Chief Minister convened an emergency meeting and passed a resolution condoling the death of the Minister. As a mark of respect, a holiday was declared on Tuesday and a three-day mourning would be observed.
In a tweet, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “deeply pained on sudden demise of my Dear friend & Cabinet colleague Mahadeva Prasad. Big loss to people of Karnataka & to me personally.” Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president and Home Minister G. Parameshwara and Cabinet Ministers have condoled his death.
