Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Karnataka Higher Education Minister V S Acharya died in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Acharya, 71, collapsed after having a heart attack, while attending a function. He was rushed to a private hospital, where he was declared dead.
He had not been keeping well for some time.
Acharya is survived by his wife, four sons and a daughter.
"He (Acharya) is no more with us," Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said as he rushed to the hospital to pay his last respects.
A member of the Legislative Council, Acharya also held the portfolios of planning and statistics, information technology and biotechnology.
A registered medical practitioner, Acharya, born on July 6, 1940, started his political career in the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh and was president of the Udupi Municipality from 1968 to 1976.
Acharya had served as home minister in the B S Yeddyurappa ministry.
With additional inputs from PTI