UDUPI: Former MLA of Karkala assembly constituency, Gopal Bhandary died on Thursday night due to cardiac arrest which he suffered while traveling in a bus from Bengaluru to Mangaluru.
He was 67. He was travelling from Bengaluru in a Volvo bus which left Bengaluru at 2 pm on Thursday. After the bus reached Mangaluru, bus conductor realised that Gopal Bhandary was not responding when he went to wake him up. He called the police and they found that Gopal Bhandary died in the bus.
His body was taken to Wenlock Hospital. The last rites will be conducted in Karkala on Friday.
Gopal Bhandary first became MLA in 1999 by defeating K P Shenoy of BJP.
He contested 2004 elections but lost to V Sunil Kumar of BJP. However Gopal Bhandary emerged victorious again in 2008. He was defeated by V Sunil Kumar of BJP in 2013. Again he lost to V Sunil Kumar in 2018. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. He hails from Hutthurke, Hebri in Karkala taluk. He joined congress party in 1979 and was a loyal congress man since then. Former Union Minister M Veerappa Moily was his political mentor