armers’ leader K S Puttannaiah, MLA, died of a massive cardiac arrest here late on Sunday night. He was 68.

The Karnataka Sarvodaya Party legislator, who represented Melkote segment in the Legislative Assembly, collapsed after watching a kabaddi match at Sir M. Visvesvaraya district stadium here after complaining of chest pain.

He was taken to the Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences where doctors declared that he had died, at 10.55 p.m.

Mr. Puttannaiah was the sole farmers’ leader in the Legislative Assembly.

According to sources in the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, the funeral is expected to be held with state honours at his native village, Kyathanalli, in Pandavapura taluk on Monday.

Mr. Puttannaiah lost three Assembly elections from the erstwhile Pandavapura constituency and once from Mandya in the Lok Sabha elections. He had been elected from the Pandavapura constituency in 1994.

Mr. Puttannaiah’s death is a big blow to the farmers’ movement in the State.

Whether it was the issue of load-shedding or the fixing of procurement price for sugarcane, Mr. Puttannaiah was always in the forefront, raising his voice for the support of farmers.

His vast knowledge on various inter-State water-sharing disputes, especially the Cauvery issue between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and his eagerness to solve woes of farming community had earned him wide recognition as a farmers’ leader.

He was like an encyclopedia for the farmers as he had keenly studied/observed various scientific and technical issues of crops and the sugar sector, KRRS leaders said.

The bonded labour system, exploitation of agricultural labourers and farmers, and other issues had made him enter public life.

Born on December 23, 1949, Mr. Puttannaiah completed his graduation at D. Banumaiah College in Mysuru. He took KRRS membership in 1983. After that he never looked back, and was always fought for farmers.

He was the only leader in the Assembly who could effectively table the issues with ground reality and statistics on Cauvery agitation, drought, drinking water, load-shedding, farmers’ suicides, and harassment by finance agencies.

From being an ordinary KRRS worker, he rose to become its president.

CM mourns

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has mourned the death of Mr. Puttannaiah.

In a condolence message, he said Mr. Puttannaiah’s death had come as a shock. “The State’s farmers’ movement has lost a prominent leader,” he said and remarked that he was pained by the death of his long-time friend.