Former Karnataka minister M Raghupathy dies at 81

Former minister M Raghupathy, who was a prominent member of the erstwhile Janata Parivar, died at his Malleswaram residence early Saturday morning. He was 81.

He was not keeping well of late.

Raghupathy was the education minister in the Ramakrishna Hegde-led government. In 1985, Raghupathy introduced free uniforms in all state-run schools, which was not applicable to Christian nuns and minority girls. Also, it was during his tenure that free textbooks were introduced. These freebies cost the government Rs 40 crore annually those days.

During his political career, Raghupathy represented the Shivajinagar and Malleswaram assembly constituencies. He was also a Legislative Council member once. He was known to be close to former Andhra Pradesh chief minister NT Rama Rao.

In recent years, Raghupathy stayed away from active politics.

His mortal remains are kept at his Malleswaram residence. Final rites will be performed on Sunday morning.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri and others offered condolences over Raghupathy’s death.