Narayan Rao, Congress MLA From Karnataka, Succumbs to COVID-19

Rao was admitted to Manipal hospital on 1 September, where he was diagnosed with a severe case of COVID.

Narayan Rao.

(Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

Karnataka Congress MLA Narayan Rao from Basavakalyan constituency in Bidar district who was suffering from COVID-19 and other comorbidities succumbed to his illness on Thursday.

“Mr Narayan Rao was admitted to Manipal Hospital, Old Airport Road, on September 1 diagnosed with Severe COVID-19 infection, passed away at 3.55p.m, he was 65 years old. He was critically ill with multi-organ failure on multiple supports including ventilator in the Intensive care unit under constant observation by our expert panel of doctors. We deeply regret the loss and express our condolences to his family and friends,” Dr Manish Rai, Hospital Director of Manipal Hospitals, Old Airport road in Bengaluru said in a statement.   

Rao was admitted in a Bidar hospial after testing positive for the novel coronavirus and had been shifted to Manipal Hospital on Tuesday after his blood oxygen saturation level had dropped to critical levels.  After his health condition further deteriorated, he was put on life-support and doctors had said that he suffered from multi-organ failure. He was being observed by a team of multidisciplinary doctors.

Rao a first-time MLA, had won the 2018 Assembly elections by a margin of 17,000+ votes winning 61, 425 votes against BJP’s Mallikarjun Khuba, his closest competitor. JDS’s PGR Sindhi had also contested the seat and finished third best with 31,414 votes.

Minister of State for Railways and four time Member of Parliament from Belagavi in Karnataka, Suresh Angadi passed away on Wednesday due to COVID-19.

In another COVID-19 death reported among elected leaders in the state, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Gasti from Karnataka had succumbed to his illness on 17 September. He was admitted to Raichur District Hospital on 31 August after he developed a fever and was later transferred to the same Manipal Hospital.

(This story was first published in The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)