Union Minister Ananth Kumar passes away

Union Minister Ananth Kumar passed away in the wee hours of Monday in Bengaluru.

The 59-year-old political leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had not been keeping well for the past few months.

Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda expressed grief over Kumar's demise and tweeted, " Shocked , it's unbelievable , My friend , Brother Ananthkumar is no more."

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also expressed sorrow over his death and said in a tweet, "Deep sense of grief on hearing that Shri @AnanthKumar_BJP is no more with us. Served @BJP4India @BJP4Karnataka all along. Bengaluru was in his head and heart, always. May God give his family the strength to bear with this loss."

Kumar holds charge of two key ministries - serving as Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers since May 2014 and as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs since July 2016 in the Narendra Modi government. Since 1996 he has represented Bengaluru South constituency in the Lok Sabha.

Born on 22 July 1959 in Bengaluru, Kumar did his graduation in faculty of Arts (B.A) from K S Arts College, Hubli affiliated to the Karnataka University and later, completed his bachelors in law (L.L.B) from J.S.S. Law College affiliated to the Karnataka University.

He is survived by two daughters- Aishwarya and Vijeta and wife Tejaswini.