The last rites of Jaffer Sharief and Ambareesh were performed in Bengaluru on Monday with full state honours. Lakhs of fans bid farewell to the veteran actor and also huge fans attended the funeral of Jaffer Sharief. Congress leaders Gulam Nabi azad, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Venugopal, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, Siddaramaiah, HD Devegowda, BS Yeddyurappa of the BJP and other leaders cutting across party lines attended the last rites of Sharieff.
The death of former railway minister CK Jaffer Sharief and film superstar turned politician MH Ambareesh has left void in Karnataka politics. Former Union Railway Minister and one of the senior most Congress leaders from Karnataka, CK Jaffer Sharief, died on Sunday. He was 85 and admitted in a Bengaluru hospital after his health deteriorated last week. Sharief has been credited with changing the face of the railways in the country. He had close association with Gandhi family. Born on 3 November 1933 in Challakere in Chitradurga district of Karnataka, Sharief was one of the senior most leaders of the Congress and has been an eight-time member of parliament.
Sharief was first elected to the 5th Lok Sabha in 1971 and served as the Minister of State for railways first from 1980-84. He later handled central portfolios like irrigation and coal among other important roles in several committees of the Government. From 1991-95, he served as India’s Railway Minister.
Sharief, whose electoral outing was in 2009, had expressed his interest in fighting the Lok Sabha polls next year one last time. He had written a letter to senior State Congress leaders expressing his wish to contest from the Bengaluru North constituency. However, the Congress leaders had discouraged Sharief from pursuing this request.
“It is a day of tragedy for the Congress party, with another senior, loved & respected member of our family in Karnataka, Shri Jaffer Sharief Ji, passing away today. My condolences to his family, friends & supporters in their time of grief,” Congress president Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter.
MH Ambareesh, 66, popularly known as Ambrishanna died on Saturday night following a heart attack at a private hospital in Bengaluru. He had made his big screen debut in 1972 with the cut film Naagarahaavu and kicked off his career in a splendid manner. Thereafter, went on to act in several popular films and this helped him become a synonym for success. During his career, he shared with the Kollywood legend Rajinikanth and remained one of his closest friends.
Ambi was last seen in the Sudeep-produced Ambi Ning Vayassaayitho which hit the screens recently and became a big hit. It was a remake of the Tamil hit Power Pandi. Superstar Rajnikanth spent time and mourned the death of cine actor Ambareesh. He was the union minister and also minister in Siddaramaiah led congress government. He was angry with the Congress and was peddling with the JDs led by former Prime Minister HD Devegowda. Ambareesh was part of Mandya politics which is the strong hold of Vokkaligas(gowdas). A popular actor Ambareesh was always called the Yajaman(Head) of Kannada cinema.
Commenting on Ambareesh's death, Narendra Modi said that it was a big loss for Karnataka and described the actor as a 'strong voice for Karnataka's welfare, at the state and central level'.
Ambareesh, a three-time Lok Sabha member and also a former state minister, had not been keeping well in recent years. He is survived by his wife Sumalatha and a son Abhishek Gowda.
Scores of fans and followers led by top south Indian actors Rajinikanth and Mohan Babu paid tributes to actor-turned-politician Ambareesh Sunday. The veteran actor died at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Saturday due to cardiac arrest. He was 66. Karnataka government announced three-day mourning and a state funeral.
At the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengalauru, superstars Rajinikanth and Chiranjeevi, actress Lakshmi of 'Julie' fame, Telugu star Mohan Babu and Kannada actor Shivraj Kumar paid their tributes to the late actor-politician. Chiranjeevi and Mohan Babu broke down.
The mortal remains of Ambareesh was flown to Mandya, about 100 km from Bengaluru, on Sunday evening and kept at Visvesvaraya Stadium in the town where over 2 lakh people from towns and villages in the old Mysuru region paid homage to Ambareesh all through the night.
"Over two lakh people, including women and children from towns and villages across Mandya and Mysuru districts came to the stadium and paid homage to Ambareesh," Chief Minister HD Kumarawsamy told reporters at Mandya earlier in the day.
HD Kumaraswamy also thanked the district administration for the arrangements at the stadium and the people for their patience in paying tributes to Ambareesh in a peaceful and orderly manner braving the cold night.
"Ambareesh’s body was brought to Mandya in response to the demand by the local people and thousands of his fans in the region as it was difficult for all of them to travel to Bengaluru for a last glimpse of his body," the Chief Minister said.