MYSORE: RAJYA Sabha member and former minister M Rajashekar Murthy (89), a politician known for his able administration and ethics in public life, passed away at New Delhi on Sunday.
He complained of chest pain and was shifted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital were he breathed his last.
The veteran politician is survived by his five daughters, relatives, friends and a large following in the state, especially across the Old Mysore region. The cremation will be held at Vadayala village in Chamarajanagar taluk on December 7.
A native of Malangi village in T Narsipur, Murthy was a prominent Veerashaiva leader and had served as a legislator and minister in both the state and Union governments. He was later a Rajya Sabha member from the Congress, before switching to the JD(S).
Murthy was known for his able administration and had served as Finance, Excise and Revenue Ministers and was a strong aspirant for the CM's post in the Congress government.
He won the Assembly election from Yalandur, a doublemember constituency in 1952. He represented T Narsipur from 1952 to 1972 and served as Minister for Industry and Commerce in the Veerendra Patil Government.
The veteran leader lost to Jayadevaraj Urs in Chamundeshwari constituency after T Narsipur was made a reserved constituency in the delimitation process, a minor aberration in an otherwise illustrious career.
Murthy contested on an India Congress ticket and won from Mysore Lok Sabha constituency. He contested assembly elections from Chamundeshwari constituency and won against the Janata Dal candidate Siddaramaiah in 1989, to become Finance and Excise Minister.
He was a frontrunner for the CM's post after Veerendra Patil stepped down due to health grounds. Although he was not inducted into S Bangarappa's Cabinet, he returned as Revenue Minister in Veerappa Moily Cabinet and exposed the involvement of some Congress leaders in land scams. The Congress high command made him a Rajya Sabha member and inducted him as Minister for Road Surface Transport in the PV Narashima Rao government.
His cousin, former Union minister MS Gurupadaswamy, also from Malangi village, was a Lok Sabha as well as a Rajya Sabha member and served as Union minister in VP Singh and Chandrashekar's Cabinets.
Murthy broke bread with the Congress after SM Krishna was made KPCC chief. He criticised Sonia Gandhi's leadership and joined the BJP during the 1999 elections on the agreement that he would be made the CM if the BJP came to power. However, it was not to be. He offered encouragement to younger ministers, including MP R Druvanarayan and former MLA Balaraj, to name a few.
Differences with the BJP would soon arise as Murthy aligned with the JD(S). His soninlaw B Chidananda was made MLC.
Murthy eventually made an entry into the Congress on January 14, 2011 after it was battered by a series of electoral defeats and did not have an able leader from the Veerashaiva community.