Former MLA and Congress leader Vasu, 72, passed away in the city on Saturday, March 9, after a prolonged illness.
He was a close associate of former Chief Minister Veerappa Moil and had been his political secretary. Vasu was also an industrialist and the president of the Mysuru Industries Association besides being the founder of Vidyavikas Educational Institutions including the Vidya Vikas Institute of Engineering and Technology. He evinced interest in issues germane to Mysuru including conservation of lakes
An amiable personality on good terms with leaders cutting across party lines, Vasu was also a former mayor of Mysuru and remained a Congress loyalist. He was elected from the Chamaraja Assembly segment in Mysuru as an MLA in 2013 but lost to L. Nagendra of the BJP in 2018 elections.
During his tenure as an MLA when Mr. Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister from 2013 to 2018, the constituency saw many development works including a new building for Maharani’s College for Arts and Commerce, Jayadeva Hospital besides a new trauma care centre and the District Hospital
However, he fell out with Mr. Siddaramaiah and was denied the ticket to seek re-election from the Chamaraja segment in 2023 elections.
Though disappointed, he remained within the party fold but the incident triggered one of his sons Kavish Gowda, to join the BJP fold and contest from the Chamundeshwari segment.
Congress leaders including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, and others have condoled the death of Vasu. Mr. Siddaramaiah expressed his grief over the passing away of Vasu while Mr. Shivakumar recalled his political journey to point out that Vasu was a good organiser who strived to build the party in Mysuru region.
