Former Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj dies at 82

Former Karnataka Governor and senior Congress leader Hans Raj Bhardwaj breathed his last here on Sunday. He was 82.

Bhardwaj was the Governor of Karnataka from June 2009 to June 2014, a tenure that was marked by frequent run-ins with the BJP government.

He also held the distinction of being the second longest serving law minister - nine years as minister of state under then prime ministers Rajiv Gandhi (1984-89) and P V Narasimha Rao (1992-96) and later as a Cabinet minister in the UPA-I government from 2004-09.

A staunch loyalist of the Gandhi family, Bhardwaj in his later years had become critical of the manner in which the Congress party was run by Rahul Gandhi in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, last year. He is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters. Bhardwaj will be cremated at the Nigambodh Ghat on Monday at 4:00 pm.