In a major setback to the BJP before the 2018 elections, Karnataka party leader BN Vijayakumar died in the early hours Friday, May 4. He was 59.
Vijayakumar suffered a massive cardiac arrest and collapsed during a campaign in the Pattabhiramanagar area in Jayanagar Thursday night and was admitted to Jayadeva Institute of Cardiac Sciences and Research Centre in the city.
His death was confirmed by the BJP, which also said that it was a great loss to the party. Vijayakumar's last rights will be performed Friday evening, reported ANI.
Sri BN Vijay Kumar, Jayanagar's popular 2 term MLA & BJP candidate passed away last night due to cardiac arrest. His humility, dedication & commitment to party and people will be remembered. A great loss for us. Our condolences to his family.
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 4, 2018
We pray for his Sadgati. #OmShanti pic.twitter.com/EcAivkgtt4
The 59-year-old was a well-known face in the state and a two time MLA from Jayanagar. He was set to contest the 2018 polls, scheduled for May 12, from the same seat against Karnataka home minister R Ramalinga Reddy's daughter Soumya Reddy.
Vijayakumar had been campaigning for the polls in the last few days and had recently said that he was thinking about lodging a police complaint against Ramalinga Reddy for intimidating his supporters. He had said that his supporters were being asked to vote for Congress or face consequences, reported Deccan Chronicle.
He had explained that he had always believed in fair elections, but other parties were physically threatening his supporters. He had explained that this was shameful and he would discuss the issue with the Election Commission and Chief Election Officer.
Born in 1958, he was a product of HAL School and RV High School in Bengaluru. He held a BE Civil Engineering degree from the BMS College of Engineering and joined the BJP in 1990.
He was the general secretary of Bangalore City BJP for almost 12 years and was also president of BJP for the Bangalore city unit.
Condolences for Vijayakumar have been pouring in from all quarters and his contemporaries remember him as a humble and good person.
I am deeply pained at the untimely demise of my friend & party stalwart Jayanagar MLA Shri @BNVijaykumar. May God give strength to his family to bear this huge loss. We will work to strengthen his ideals.
— B.S. Yeddyurappa (@BSYBJP) May 4, 2018
Jayanagara MLA Shri B N Vijaya Kumar has died suddenly apparently due to cardiac arrest.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 4, 2018
I express my condolences to his family & loved ones. Shri Vijaya Kumar was a sincere & hard working political leaders
May his soul rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/Q7D8lERleZ
Jayanagar MLA BN Vijayakumar passes away due to cardiac arrest: https://t.co/KFaf4cGjFE | Terrible news; he was actually quite a good leader
— Jaideep A. Prabhu (@orsoraggiante) May 4, 2018
Extremely sad to hear of the death of Jayanagar MLA B N Vijayakumar. He was among the best MLAs, and made a good attempt to keep Jayanagar at the forefront of development in the city. I will miss him as a friend and as an ally in development efforts in South Bangalore.
— Ashwin Mahesh (@ashwinmahesh) May 4, 2018
