C.S. Shivalli, Minister for Municipal Administration, who passed away on Friday, had been spending hours in the last four days monitoring rescue operations at the site of the commercial complex that collapsed in Dharwad on Tuesday. His family claimed that exhaustion may have aggravated his already delicate health.

According to family members, Mr. Shivalli who had undergone heart surgery earlier, had developed health problems because of the dust at the accident site.

On Thursday too, Mr. Shivalli had spent a few hours at the site, awaiting the arrival of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy. That evening he had received treatment and was advised rest by the doctors. On Friday, the Minister had a cardiac arrest, collapsing while speaking to a few acquaintances. He was rushed to a private hospital in Hubballi in an ambulance. Hospital sources said he was brought to the hospital in a critical condition and did not respond to treatment.

From a Raj fan association

Mr. Shivalli, was a native of Yaraguppi in Kundagol taluk of Dharwad district. After his early education, he came to Hubballi to study for a degree at the Sri Kadasiddeshwar Arts and H.S. Kotambri Science Institute. He entered public life as president of Rajkumar’s Fans Association in 1985. During his 10-year stint as president, Shivalli’s attempts to enter politics through the Mandal Panchayat failed twice.

He contested the Assembly elections in 1994 as a candidate of the former Chief Minister S. Bangarappa’s Karnataka Congress Paksha (KCP), but he met with no success. In the next election in 1999, he tasted success as an Independent candidate, but was defeated in 2004.

As a Congress candidate, he suffered defeat again in 2008, but won in the next two elections in 2013 and 2018. In the previous Congress government, he had served as CM’s Parliamentary Secretary.

With him getting the ministerial berth recently, Kundagol constituency a Cabinet representation after a gap of 48 years. Known for his humble nature, Mr. Shivalli was a patron of art, culture, and sports, particularly kabaddi.

Mr. Kumaraswamy, former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, Ministers Krishna Byre Gowda and R.V. Deshpande, Pralhad Joshi, MP, KPCC campaign committee president H.K. Patil, former Minister Vinay Kulkarni, Prasad Abbayya, MLA, president of the KPCC SC Cell F.H. Jakkappanavar, and others mourned his demise.