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Bengaluru, Mar 11: Karnataka Congress working president and former MP R Dhruvanarayana passed away on Saturday morning at the age of 61. 

He had complained of chest pain and was brought to the DRMS Hospital in Mysuru at around 6:40 am by his driver. However, he did not survive, a doctor at the hospital told reporters.

“R Dhruvanarayana passed away. He suffered chest pain and his driver picked him up at 6:40 am. But he didn't survive,” Dr Manjunath said.

Further details are awaited. Several Congress leaders took to social media to express their condolences.

“Shocked and saddened beyond words. My heart breaks at the loss of a leader like R Dhruvanarayana ji, Former MP and KPCC Working President. May his soul find peace. My support and prayers are with his family, friends and all workers,” Srinivas BV, National President of the Indian Youth Congress, said.

“Saddened to hear about the demise of Shri R. Dhruvanarayana ji, Former MP and KPCC Working President. Heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and well wishers,” Krishna Allavaru, the Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee, tweeted.

Bengaluru, Mar 16: The Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, which has highest number of legislators in Karnataka, has sought to strengthen its hold on state politics. 

Senior Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa, who is also president of the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, on Wednesday met Congress national president Mallikarjuna Kharge and requested him to give 65 tickets to Veerashaiva-Lingayat community leaders in the coming assembly elections.

Shamanur along with other community leaders met Kharge here and said that in the previous assembly elections, Congress gave 42 tickets to Veerashaiva- Lingayat community leaders and in which 18 candidates won. This time the number of seats should be increased, he said in his plea to Kharge.

“Veerashaiva-Lingayat community voters spread across the state and their support was crucial for any party to come to power. If the Congress gave more seats to the community leaders, it would be easy for the party to come to power,” he told reporters.  

Senior leader from the community and former minister S R Patil also met Kharge separately. However Patil said he conveyed the party leader that he is ready to contest in the assembly polls if the party gave him the ticket.

On Monday senior leader M B Patil also met Kharge and demanded 65 seats for Veerashaiva-Lingayat community leaders.

Belagavi, Mar 20: KPCC president DK Shivakumar said he appealed to Nirmalananda Swamiji of Adichunchanagiri Mahasamsthana Mutt to take lead against BJP’s communal agenda of creating disturbance in the society, through imaginary characters Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, claiming that both have killed Tipu Sultan.

He said Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji along with seers from other communities and Kannada organisations in Karnataka should undertake a movement against "acts of tampering" with history and giving a wrong message to the society. 

Shivakumar alleged BJP leaders are trying to hurt sentiments of the people by tampering with the history in a false way and said it is condemnable.

"There was a history and gazetteer about the life and death of Tipu Sultan while BJP National General Secretary C T Ravi, Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan and Union Minister of State for Agriculture Shobha Karandlaje were attempting to present wrong imaginative history," he said.

Shivakumar said that Tipu Sultan was killed 200 years ago, but now BJP wants to give a new twist to the history by stating that Urigowda and Nanjegowda killed him. "We too have read the history of Tipu Sultan and no such persons existed. It's the imagination of BJP leaders and now they want to make a film on their story."

Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji should oppose such acts and stage a movement against them by taking seers of different communities and Kannada organisations with him.

"The acts of BJP leaders were to tamper with history and anti-Hindu. Wrong history was propagated by BJP's 'WhatsApp university'. The seer should not talk with the producer or director of the film or enter into any compromise. I have held talks with the seer over the phone and have been making an appeal through media,'' he stated.

Shivakumar said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai panicked after Congress commenced the announcement of its guarantees to the people if voted to power. 

"Bommai has been announcing schemes now which should have been implemented earlier. Now, elections could be announced anytime and he has been announcing programmes for women and youth after Congress announced them. Instead, they should have been made part of the BJPs election manifesto. BJP has been following the line of thinking of Congress," he said.

"Congress has been fixing the narrative for the Assembly election while the BJP's narrative was corruption. BJP has given the most corrupt government in the country and does not have any concern for youth and women," he added.

"Corruption in employment has led to youth being deprived of opportunities. There was the involvement of a minister and officials in corruption and MLAs acted as a conduit. BJP had been demanding evidence of corruption and Lokyukta has given it," he further said.