Congress leader and former Minister M.S. Katagi died at a private hospital in Hubli on Friday.
He was 87 years old and had been ailing for some time.
Mr. Katagi was elected as MLA from Kundagol Assembly Constituency in Dharwad district in 1978 and went on to become Minister for Food and Civil Supplies in Chief Minister D. Devaraj Urs’ Cabinet.
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A native of Kundagol, Mr. Katagi completed his law degree from Belgaum and then plunged into politics. He became president of the Kundagol Town Municipal Council and later served as chairman of organisations such as the Sawai Gandharva Vishwastha Samsthe, which conducts an annual national-level music festival in memory of Hindustani vocalist Sawai Gandharva. He built the Rashtriya Seva Dal in his town and served as its president for several years.
He was also a State-level kabbadi player and a wrestler.
Mr. Katagi is survived by three sons, including Congress leader Aravind Katagi and three daughters.
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The funeral will take place at Kundagol on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas M. Veerappa Moily, Ministers R.V. Deshpande, H.K. Patil, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Santosh Lad, Prakash Hukkeri, former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, BJP State president Pralhad Joshi, former Speaker of the Legislative Council Veeranna Mattikatti, MLAs C.S. Shivalli, Vinay Kulkarni, MLCs Srinivas Mane, Nagaraj Chabbi, former Ministers K.B. Koliwad, K.N. Gaddi, A.M. Hindasageri, S.R. More, Basavaraj Horatti, Basavaraj Bommai, P.C. Siddanagoudar, former MP Manjunath Kunnur, former MLA S.I. Chikkanagoudar, Congress leader Raja Desai and others have condoled his death.