Dalit leader Srinivasa Prasad laid to rest as per Buddhist traditions in Mysuru

MYSURU: Senior politician and Dalit leader V Srinivasa Prasad was on Tuesday laid to rest with full state honours as per Buddhist traditions at the Dr B R Ambedkar Trust premises near Ashokapuram on the Mysuru-Manandawadi Road.

Earlier, the mortal remains of Srinivasa Prasad were kept at the NTM School grounds in Ashokapuram for people to pay their last respects. The body was then taken in procession through the main streets of the locality.

Among those who paid their last respects were BJP candidates Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, Dr CN Manjunath, Pratap Simha, minister H C Mahadevappa, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, MLA T S Srivatsa, AR Krishnamurthy, former minister N Mahesh, former MLA L Nagendra, Sunil Bose, H V Rajiv and others.

Thousands of people accompanied the procession as it wound its way through Ashokapuram where Srinivasa Prasad was born. Buddhist bhikshus recited shlokas and performed other rituals before Srinivasa Prasad was laid to rest. Deputy Commissioner K V Rajendra and Police Commissioner Ramesh Bhanot presented Tricolour to the wife of Srinivasa Prasad while a police contingent presented a gun salute.

Srinivasa Prasad (76), who represented Chamarajanagar as MP, passed away at a private hospital in Bengaluru early on Monday. He suffered from an acute gastrointestinal infection and was in ICU for the last four days. He was also suffering from other health problems, including respiratory problems and had undergone treatment at a private hospital in Bengaluru for the past few days by Dr Sudarshan Ballal.

Prasad served as a Union Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cabinet from 1999 to 2004. He represented Chamarajanagar constituency as MP for seven terms. He retired from electoral politics in March 2024, just a month before his death.