Belagavi: Siddanagouda Patil, the first elected Kannadiga Mayor of Belagavi city in North Karnataka, passed away at his Shivabasavanagar residence here yesterday due to age-related illness. He was 87. He is survived by his wife and an adopted son.

Siddanagouda Patil, who entered politics by successfully contesting Belagavi City Corporation polls in 1984, later got re-elected in 1990 and became the first Kannadiga Mayor of the City Corporation in 1991, at a time when the Civic Body was dominated by MES (Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti).

Patil, who also served as a member of Kannada Development Authority for two successive terms, was a vocal Kannada activist of Belagavi region since the 1950s, taking up the cause of merger of Ballari, which was then part of Andhra Pradesh, with Karnataka and other issues concerning Kannada land, language and water.