The residence of the former Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi was a deserted place on Thursday. The house on Sampige Road in Sadashiv Nagar in Belagavi, that was otherwise full of visitors, was empty except for some family members and police personnel on guard.
The family matriarch, Somavva, was in a state of shock and disbelief at the passing of her son. She kept saying that her son had told her that he will return from New Delhi after the Parliamentary session. “He told me he was going to Delhi to bring money for the development of Belagavi,” she said. She broke down while watching the final rites of Angadi on a relative’s mobile phone.
God’s will
KLE Chairman and Angadi’s friend Prabhakar Kore came to visit and console the grieving relatives. He told Somavva that it was God’s will and everyone had to accept it. Mr. Kore told journalists that doctors in Delhi had told him that Angadi’s health had deteriorated after he developed a block in his heart on Tuesday. He was shifted to the intensive care unit.
“I had expected him to be back in a few days. But sadly,that did not happen,” he said.
He said that he had advised Angadi to reduce travelling and use masks during public meetings. But he kept telling me that he was healthy and that nothing would happen to him, Mr. Kore said.
C.C. Angadi, Angadi’s elder brother, regretted that most of the family members were unable to travel to Delhi due to COVID-19 restrictions. “We wanted to conduct the burial in the Somavva Angadi college in our native village of KK Koppa. But it was not possible due to the SOPs in place. We are watching the telecast of the burial,” he said.
Veeranagouda Inamati, a family friend, told journalists that Bruno, Angadi’s pet dog, had sensed his absence and had stopped eating since Wednesday.
Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar and around 20 other relatives and party leaders were present at the Lingayat burial ground in Delhi where Angadi’s final rites were conducted, said BJP leader Raju Chikkanagoudar, who attended the event.
