Former Minister and president of Hyderabad Karnataka Horata Samiti Vaijanath Patil passed away in Bengaluru early on Saturday morning. He was 81.
Mr. Patil was suffering from age-related ailments and was recently admitted to a private hospital in Bengaluru. The final rites will be held in Chincholi, his native place, on Sunday. He is survived by wife, three sons and two daughters.
From the Janata Pariwar background, Mr. Patil, a two-time MLA from Chincholi, served as Minister for Horticulture in the Ramakrishna Hegde government and Minister for Urban Development in the H.D. Deve Gowda government. Later, he joined the Congress.
Fight of two decades
Mr. Patil is widely remembered for his fight lasting over two decades for special status to Kalyana Karnataka (then Hyderabad Karnataka) region.
He had moved a private-member resolution on this in the Karnataka Assembly in 1998.
His mass agitations in the region, coupled with political efforts of veterans like M. Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament, are credit for the 118th amendment to the Constitution that accorded special status to the region during the UPA-II regime. The special status under Article 371(J) of the Constitution offers reservations to candidates of the six north-eastern districts of the State in employment and education, apart from special grants for development.
Mr. Patil quit the Ramakrishna Hegde Cabinet in protest against the government’s apathy towards the development of the backward region and continued to fight for the cause till the end. Even as a wheelchair-bound activist, he had an active public life.
Till recently, he continued to publicly protest against the State government for its “lack of interest” in the proper implementation of Article 371(J) and the anomalies in offering reservations to candidates of the region.
In March this year, he resigned from the primary membership of the Congress protesting against the previous Congress and Congress-JD(S) coalition governments for their “disinterest” in proper implementation of the special status.
Born on July 29, 1938, in an agricultural family at Hakyala village in Aurad taluk of Bidar district, Mr. Patil completed his graduation from BVB Degree College in Bidar and LLB from SSL Law College in Kalaburagi. He was recipient of an honorary doctorate from Gulbarga University at its 31st convocation.
Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, AICC general secretary M. Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Member from Kalaburagi Umesh Jadhav were among those who condoled his death.
