Veteran Karnataka Politician AK Subbaiah passed away on Tuesday afternoon at the age of 83. Subbaiah was undergoing treatment at Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru for a kidney-related ailment.
Known as a straight-laced politician, AK Subbaiah served as the Congress Member of the Legislative Council between 1988 and 1994. Prior to joining the Congress, AK Subbaiah was the first Karnataka state President of the BJP.
In 1980, when the party emerged as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the intent to gain ground in Karnataka, which was a Congress stronghold, AK Subbaiah was elected the state President at the Lalbagh Silver Jubilee Hall. AK Subbaiah is credited with getting young RSS cadre to join the BJP and work for the party in Karnataka.
A party that had a negligible presence in the state, Subbaiah managed to turn the party’s fortunes around. In the 1983 Assembly election, the BJP, for the first time, won 18 out of the 110 seats it contested under his leadership.
AK Subbaiah attributed the growth of BJP in the state to his efforts and he strongly criticised RSS workers. This resulted in the BJP expelling him from the party. Known as an honest politician, Subbaiah was also responsible for exposing nepotism and corruption in the former Chief Minister R Gundu Rao’s government.