Senior BJP leader CM Udasi passes away at 85; Yediyurappa, Deve Gowda express condolences

Bengaluru: Senior BJP MLA and former minister CM Udasi died on Tuesday at a private hospital in Bengaluru due to age-related illness, sources close to him said. He was 85 and is survived by his wife and son Shivakumar Udasi, who is a BJP MP from Haveri-Gadag constituency. The last rites of the MLA are likely to be performed on Wednesday at Hangal, the Assembly constituency in Haveri district he represented. Udasi, who entered the Assembly in 1983 as an Independent from Hangal, has represented the constituency six times. He retained the seat in 1985 as the Janata Party candidate and won in 1994 on a Janata Dal ticket. When the Janata Dal split in 1999, he was initially associated with JD(U), but later joined the BJP. Udasi won the 2004 and 2008 elections on a BJP ticket. When BS Yediyurappa floated the KJP after quitting the saffron party, he followed him, but lost the 2013 polls. He then followed Yediyurappa back to BJP and went on to win the 2018 assembly polls. Udasi had served as rural development Minister in the JD(S)-BJP coalition government led by HD Kumaraswamy in 2006 and was Minister for Public Works in the previous BJP government led by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa in 2008. Expressing condolence, the state government has issued an order to perform Udasi’s last rites with full state honours, following COVID-19 guidelines, by maintaining social distancing and deploying minimum police personnel. Expressing grief over Udasi’s death Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said he was a “gentleman and a dynamic politician”. “The works he undertook as a PWD minister is noteworthy.He was always committed to solving people’s problems and worked tirelessly for the betterment of society. He also worked earnestly for the development of his Hangal constituency,” the CM said in his condolence message. Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda in a tweet said he was pained on hearing about Udasi’s death. Several of Yediyurappa’s cabinet colleagues, Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, JD(S) leader and former CM H D Kumaraswamy and state Congress chief D K Shivakumar expressed their condolences and paid tributes to the departed leader.