Ananth Kumar dead: One day holiday in Karnataka, tricolour to fly at half-mast

The Ministry of Home Affairs has declared that state funeral will be accorded to Union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ananth Kumar, who breathed his last at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Monday.

The Home Ministry also said that the national flag will be flown at half-mast throughout the country on Monday.

“Following the unfortunate demise of Union Minister Ananth Kumar, it has been decided that National Flag will fly at half-mast throughout the country today and State funeral will be accorded,” said that Ministry of Home Affairs in a statement.

The Karnataka government has also declared a three-day mourning in the state following the demise of the BJP leader, who represented Bengaluru south for six terms in Lok Sabha. One-day holiday has also been declared on Monday.

Ananth Kumar, who had been battling cancer, died at 2 am on Monday. He was reportedly on ventilator support for the last few days.

The mortal remains of the minister has been kept at his residence and will remain there till 7 am on Tuesday. Following this, it will be taken to the BJP headquarters and then to the National College ground.

His last rites will be held at Chamrajpet crematorium in Bengaluru on Tuesday evening.

Ananth Kumar was serving as the Union minister for Chemical and Fertilizers and also as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs. He had undergone treatment abroad as well, but returned to Bengaluru in October, following which he was admitted to a private hospital.

Reacting to his demise, President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, among others, expressed their grief and offered condolences to the family of the Ananth Kumar.

A lawyer by qualification, Ananth Kumar was born on July 22, 1959 in Bengaluru. He pursued his graduation in Arts from KS Arts College in Hubli and later went on to complete LLB from JSS Law College. His major political journey began when he was jailed as a leader of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) during the Emergency.

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