Bengaluru: Senior Congress MLA from Surpur (Shorapur) Raja Venkatappa Naik (64) died due to heart attack at a private hospital in Bengaluru.
The four-time MLA from Surpur had recently undergone surgery for kidney stones.
He had developed complications and was admitted to Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru, where he died following a heart attack on Sunday, party sources said.
Raja Venkatappa Naik is survived by Rani Lata Naik and sons Raja Venugopal Naik and Raja Santosh Naik.
The family sources said, the final rites of Naik will be performed in Surpur at 4 pm on Monday.
Raja Venkatappa Naik followed in the footsteps of his father Raja Kumar Naik, who was Congress MLA twice in 1957 and 1978. Contesting on KCP ticket, Venkatappa Naik entered the Assembly for the first time in 1994 from Surpur. In the 1999 Assembly election, he was re-elected, but on a Congress ticket.
In the next two elections, he lost. However in 2013, he
tasted victory. In the next election, he lost but recorded a resounding victory in the 2023 polls.
On February 1, he took charge as chairman of Karnataka State Warehousing Corporation. The following day he was hospitalised.
Condolences
The All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah condoled the demise of Raja Venkatappa Naik.
In a condolence statement, Kharge said, “Naik was ever smiling and used to work taking everyone along.”
Siddaramaiah, who paid his respects to the departed leader in the hospital, said: “The passing away of Raja Venkatappa Naik, a popular personality among the people, is an irreparable loss both personally and to state politics. I pray that the departed soul rests in peace and his family and fans find strength to bear the pain,” he posted on social media platform X.