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Basavarajeshwari passes away

Basavarajeshwari

BELLARY: The former Union Minister Basavarajeshwari died here on Tuesday after a prolonged illness. She was 86.

Ms. Basavarajeshwari, whose political career lasted 40 years, was the Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development in the P.V. Narasimha Rao Ministry. She also served as a Deputy Minister between 1962 and 1967 and was a member of the Legislative Council for one term. She won the Bellary Lok Sabha seat three times in a row. She began her career as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in 1957 from Lingasugur in Raichur district, and was re-elected for the second term when she held the post of Deputy Minister for five years. She was later elected as the Member of the Legislative Council (1977-84).

She performed a hat-trick of sorts by winning the Bellary Lok Sabha seat thrice in 1984, 1989 and 1991 and was inducted into the P.V. Narasimha Rao Ministry. As the Union Minister, Ms. Basavarajeshwari represented the country at the World Women’s Conference held at Beijing in China.

She kept a low profile after she was denied the Congress ticket to contest in the Lok Sabha elections from Bellary in 1996 and floated a trust, for which she was the chairperson. It started several educational institutions, including an engineering college, a polytechnic and an ITI.

In 2004, Ms. Basavarajeshwari joined the BJP and campaigned for the party not only in Bellary but also in the neighbouring districts.

She is survived by four sons and four daughters.

The last rites would be performed at her native village Gejjalagatta in Sindhanoor taluk on Wednesday, according to family sources.

Meanwhile, several prominent leaders of various parties, including Allum Veerbhadrappa, B. Sriramulu, both former Ministers, BJP MLC Janardhan Reddy, and Tekur Ramanath, paid their respect to the departed soul and consoled the bereaved family members.

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