Udupi: Former minister Vasanth V. Salian(72) died of cardiac arrest here on Saturday July 25 at his residence in Katapady. On Saturday he complained of chest pain and breathlessness in the afternoon and was taken to Hi-tech Hospital here, where he passed away.

“The body would be kept in the former Minister’s house at Katapady for people to pay their last respects from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday. The cremation would be held in the garden of his house at 3 p.m.,” said Gangadhar Suvarna, Mr. Salian’s son-in-law and Congress leader.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sorake; Oscar Fernandes, Shobha Karandlaje and B.S. Yeddyurappa, MPs; Pramod Madhwaraj, MLA, and Kota Srinivas Poojary, MLC, political leaders from all parties expressed their condolences on Salian’s death.

The former minister who began his political career in the Congress was popular leader of the Billava community in Udupi. Salian represented the Kaup Assembly constituency five times in a row between 1983 and 2004 from the Congress. He was Minister for Ports and Fisheries in the Cabinets of M. Veerappa Moily (1993–94) and S.M. Krishna (2002–04).

He lost the 2004 and 2008 Assembly elections from Kaup. Though he lobbied hard for Congress ticket in the 2013 Assembly elections, it was given to Vinay Kumar Sorake in the last minute. Upset at this, Mr. Salian joined the Janata Dal (Secular) and contested the election from Kaup. He, however, was defeated by Mr. Sorake, who then became Urban Development Minister. After 10 months, Mr. Salian quit JD(S) and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014.

He is survived by his wife and two daughters.