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Minister Umesh Katti passes away, laid to rest with full state honours
The Karnataka government declared state mourning till September 9 as a mark of respect on the passing away of the minister.
Karnataka forest and food and civil supplies minister Umesh Katti passed away on Tuesday night following a heart attack at a hospital in Belagavi. Katti was laid to rest with full state honours on Wednesday.
The Karnataka government declared state mourning till September 9 as a mark of respect on the passing away of the minister.
A record eight-time MLA from Hukkeri assembly constituency in Karnataka, Katti was 61. Katti collapsed in the bathroom of his Dollar’s Colony residence here and was rushed to the hospital, PTI reported.The BJP leader is survived by his wife, son and daughter.
State revenue minister R Ashoka said according to doctors, Katti had no pulse when he was brought to the hospital. He termed Katti’s death a huge loss to the BJP and to the Belagavi district.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, opposition leader Siddaramaiah among other leaders paid tributes to Katti.
Modi tweeted, “Shri Umesh Katti Ji was an experienced leader who made rich contributions to Karnataka’s development. Pained by his demise. My thoughts are with his family and supporters in this tragic hour. Om Shanti.”
“Deeply saddened by the untimely demise of my close colleague Shri Umesh Katti, Minister of Forests. With his demise, the state has lost a skilled diplomat, active leader and loyal public servant. I pray that the Lord gives strength to his family to bear his loss,” the CM tweeted.
“Deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Food & Civil Supplies Minister Shri Umesh Katti. My deepest condolences to the bereaved family. May his soul rest in peace,” Siddaramaiah said.
The state government also declared a holiday to all schools and colleges, along with government offices in Belagavi district.
The CM said that BJP’s ‘Janotsava’ rally to mark the completion of the party being in power for three years and his government’s one year in office, in Doddaballapura scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed to September 11.
Born in Belladbagewadi in Hukkeri taluk of Belagavi district in 1961, Katti entered politics following the demise of his father Vishwanath Katti in 1985. His father, a Janata Dal legislator, also died of a cardiac arrest while the Vidhana Soudha session was in progress in 1985. He was an MLA for just three months, forcing a young Umesh to take his place.
Katti held several ministerial portfolios posts, including public works, food, civil supplies, forest, sugar and prisons among other departments under various chief ministers.
Katti won eight of the nine elections he had contested. The only election he lost was in 2004 when he contested on a Congress ticket against BJP’s Shashikant Nayak.
He was a minister for the first time in late J.H. Patel’s cabinet and held cabinet posts under B.S. Yediyurappa, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Jagadish Shettar, and Basavaraj Bommai.
He had joined JD(S) in 2008 and won the election from Hukkeri constituency, however in a few months he resigned from his membership, defected to the BJP and won a by election from the saffron party. He has been with the BJP since.
Katti was often in news for his statements demanding statehood for the north Karnataka region and also openly expressing his chief ministerial ambitions. He had proposed the division of the state, arguing that this would be the “only way northern parts would get some semblance of development.”
Apart from having hundreds of hectares of agriculture land, his family has a steel factory and two sugar mills at his native Bellada Bagewadi in Hukkeri taluk, a 5-star hotel in Belagavi and a 15-storied apartment in Ambedkar Nagar in Belagavi.
Katti’s son Nikhil is a member of Belagavi Zilla Panchayat and his brother Ramesh Katti was the BJP MP from Chikkodi constituency. His son Nikhil is expected to replace Katti in Hukkeri constituency.
With Agency Inputs
