Former Belagavi MP Basappa Sidnal passes away

Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader and four-time Belagavi MP Shanmukhappa Basappa Sidnal passed away on Tuesday morning while undergoing treatment in a hospital. He was 85.

The funeral was conducted at 5 pm at Sidnal farms in Sanikoppa village at Bailhongal in Belagavi.

Expressing his deep condolence over the demise of the former MP, CM B S Yediyurappa said, "Sidnal was a simple-minded, honest and efficient politician. May his soul rest in peace. Wishing his family and dear ones all strength in this painful hour.".

SB Sidnal, a lawyer by profession, had first unsuccessfully contested from the Kittur Assembly constituency in 1972. Later, he was elected as the president of the State Bar Association in 1979. The following year, contesting on a Congress ticket, Sidnal won from the Belagavi (then Belgaum) Lok Sabha seat. He went on to win three consecutive elections from the seat.