Karnataka Congress working president R. Dhruvanarayana passes away at 61

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president R. Dhruvanarayana R Dhruvanarayana passed away in Mysuru on Saturday morning. He was 61.

''Dhruvanarayana, a former MP representing Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituency, suffered a cardiac arrest on Saturday morning and passed away at his residence in Mysuru,''Dr Manjunath, Doctor DRMS Hospital informed.

He suffered chest pain and his driver picked him up at 6:40am. But he didn't survive.

Dhruvanarayana joined Congress as a common party worker in 1983 and progressed as a leader as the time went by. He won from Santhemarahalli legislative constituency in 2004 and Kollegal legislative constituency in 2008.

In 1999 he contested from the Santhemarahalli constituency but was thwarted by A R Krishnamurthy of Janata Dal (S) who won by a margin of 5906 votes. But Dhruvanarayana defeated Krishnamurthy by just one vote in the 2004 legislative constituency election.

In 2009, Dhruvanarayana was elected to 15th Lok Sabha elections from Chamarajanagar constituency by defeating A R Krishnamurthy of INC by a margin of 4,020 votes.

In 2014, he was re-elected to 16th Lok Sabha elections where he once again defeated his rival A R Krishnamurthy with a margin of 1,41,182 votes.

Dhruvanarayana was a post-graduate degree holder in agricultural university of Bengaluru and was a farmer by profession before entering politics.

Dhruvanarayan had backed Siddaramaiah's candidature from Varuna

Dhruvanarayan had backed the demand for former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's candidature for the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections from Varuna constituency in Mysuru.

Dhruvanarayan's call follows a similar demand made by the former Chief Minister's son and sitting MLA representing Varuna Yathindra Siddaramaiah recently.

Varuna constituency is predominantly rural and has a significant agricultural community. It includes several villages and small towns such as Hinkal, Bogadi, and Alanahalli. The constituency has a mix of different communities, including Lingayats, Vokkaligas, and Dalits.

In the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, the constituency was won by Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah, who is the son of former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and a member of the Indian National Congress party.