Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (AM/SP)
Mangaluru, Jan 27: Former minister and senior JD(S) leader Amarnath Shetty passed away on the early hours of Monday, January 27. He was 80.
Shetty was admitted to a private hospital in Mangaluru due to some health related issues earlier. It is said that he passed away without responding to treatment.
He had served as the minister of Tourism and Religious Endowment in the Karnataka government.
Joining politics in 1965, Amarnath Shetty went on to become the president of Paladka panchayat in Karkala taluk. He also served as the chairman of Moodbidri town panchayat, president of Taluk Marketing Society, Karkala, Co-operative Service Bank and District Janata Party of Dakshina Kannada.
In 1983 he contested from the JD(S) and was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Moodbidri constituency for the first time. He was again re-elected to the assembly for the same constituency in 1987 and 1994.
Amarnath Shetty commanded highest respect in his party and in public field because of ethical values he cherished and his decision to stay put in the party in spite of failures on personal front and of the party. Shetty, a soft-spoken gem of a person, many a time did not look like a politician as politicians are known to make tall, unfounded claims and blame others for everything. He won thrice from his home town, Moodbidri, to the state assembly, and his last victory was in 1994. He often said that serving people happens to be his passion and that he was in active politics because of his ambition to serve people. He believed that his defeats in the election came mostly because of negative, malicious campaigning undertaken by the BJP and the Congress.
Shetty was a classmate of former union minister and Karnataka chief minister M Veerappa Moily. He always believed that party hoppers damage the political parties. Known to be a non-corrupt politician who came up the hard way through grass root level, Shetty commanded respect from people across the political parties. Shetty generally enjoyed good health. It is sad that he could not bid adieu to his political career with a victory. Dakshina Kannada district has lost a dignified leader who refused to hanker for power.
From archives (2018):