SHIVAMOGGA: Former Bhadravathi MLA and JDS leader Appaji Gowda succumbed to COVID-19 here on Wednesday late in the night. He was 69. He is survived by his wife and son.
Sources said that the former MLA was suffering from ill health for the past three days.
He was taken to a private hospital for treatment in Shivamogga on Wednesday. Later, he was shifted to McGann Hospital for further treatment. However, he breathed his last at the hospital.
Gowda contested as an independent candidate in 1994 and won. He was reelected in 1999. He won as a JDS candidate in 2013 but was defeated in 2018.
Meanwhile, former CM H D Kumaraswamy condoled to the death of Gowda and said that he emerged as leader raising voice for labourers of the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Limited.