Kalaburagi: Former Minister and Rajya Sabha member K.B. Shanappa (83) passed away at District General Hospital attached to Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) on Sunday May 9.
He was tested positive for Covid – 19 and admitted on developing complications a few days ago.
He was born in 1938 to a Dalit family in Ravoor of Chittapur taluk. He identified with communism during growing up years and was associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI). He had contested 1985 Assembly Elections from Shahabad (reserved for SC) constituency as a CPI candidate and had triumphed paving way for eventful political career.
In later days, Shanappa joined Janata Dal and also had taken on Congress leader M. Mallikarjun Kharge in Gurmitkal (reserved for SC) constituency in the 1994 Assembly elections, but lost. He served as Excise Minister in Former Chief Minister J.H. Patel’s Cabinet as the Excise Minister for six months where he served for losing the berth as he could not become the Member of the Legislative Council within the stipulated time.
In 2004, he joined BJP and worked for the party for 15 years as Rajya Sabha member and then as Karnataka Legislative Council member till 2018. He joined Congress in 2019 ahead of Lok Sabha elections and also campaigned for Kharge.
He was well-read and authored a book too. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and two sons.
