The oldest lawmaker in the Lok Sabha, Ramachandra Veerappa, 96, died last week. He was 96. Known as Parliament’s grand old man, Veerappa, who represented Bidar in Karnataka, passed away in Hyderabad on July 18 after a protracted illness.

Veerappa, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who was elected to the Lok Sabha for the fifth time in a row, is survived by his third wife Shanakramma, three sons, four daughters and 30 grandchildren.

Veerappa’s family said Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani, BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu and party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar attend his funeral in his hometown Humnabad near Bidar on July 19.

–– Indo-Asian News Service