Mandya: Former Minister H.T. Krishnappa (91) passed away at his residence at Basaveshwaranagar in Bengaluru late on Thursday night.

He leaves behind his son Sudarshan and a host of relatives and friends. Last rites were performed at his farm near Nagamangala in the district on Friday.

Krishnappa, a four-time MLA from Nagamangala, had served as a Minister twice. He was first elected to the Assembly on a Samstha Congress ticket in 1973 and again in 1978, when he became a Minister in Devaraj Urs Cabinet. He was elected for the third time as an independent candidate in Nagamangala bypolls held in 1985. But even before he could take oath as MLA, the then Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde dissolved the Assembly.

Krishnappa successfully contested the general Assembly election on a Janata Party ticket from Nagamangala in 1985 and became the  Minister  for Health, Medical Education and Excise in the Hegde headed Government. Years later, he quit politics and led a retired life by writing books.