Bangalore: Scion of the erstwhile Mysore royal family Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, who passed away, was a man who wore many hats and was extremely popular among the masses in Mysore region, especially in the rural areas.
Close to the Gandhi family, Wodeyar was a committed Congressman all his life barring a few years when he joined the BJP after being denied Lok Sabha ticket by his party.
The scion was also elected as a Congress lawmaker to parliament four times from the Mysore Lok Sabha constituency and lost twice, once as a candidate of the opposition BJP.
Sixty-year old Wodeyar, who had been ailing in recent months, died of severe cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Bangalore.
Wodeyar, the only son of Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, the last ruling Maharaja of Mysore, and his second wife, Maharani Tripura Sundari Ammani Avaru, succeeded his father as the head of his dynasty in September 1974.
He had remained the titular head of the erstwhile royalty during the famous Dasara festivities after succeeding as heir to his father in 1974 that left him with a palace but without a kingdom.
Married to a distant cousin, Pramoda Devi, the couple have no children. The mortal remains of Wodeyar would be cremated at Mysore, Home Minister K J George told reporters outside the hospital, adding, the state government has declared a two-day state mourning.
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