Vice President condoles death of Jana Krishnamurthy

Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari has expressed his heartfelt condolences at the passing away of Rajya Sabha member K. Jana Krishnamurthy.

New Delhi, Sept. 26 : Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari has expressed his heartfelt condolences at the passing away of Rajya Sabha member K. Jana Krishnamurthy.

In his condolence message to his wife, Bhagyalakshmi, Ansari said that Krishnamurthy was "always admired by the people for his dedication, sense of public service and honesty".

"In his death, the country has lost a noted public personality who was always alive to the social concerns of our times," he added.

Krishnamurthy, the former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), passed away of renal failure on Tuesday in Chennai. He was 79.

Krishnamurthy is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters.

He was undergoing treatment for about two months and had been unconscious for the past 20 days following a brain haemorrhage.

Krishnamurthy was a member of the Jan Sangh and joined the BJP after the split of the Janata Party in 1979.

He was BJP President from 2001 to 2002 and was a minister in the Vajpayee Cabinet in 2003.

Born in Madurai in 1928, Krishnamurthy entered politics after an active stint in the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).

He was the first person from Tamil Nadu to become BJP President.

He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat.

ANI