Vedavyasa Srinivasa Acharya (6 July 1940 – 14 February 2012) was an Indian senior leader of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP) in

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. He was the Higher Education Minister in the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as GoK or GoKA, formerly known as Government of Mysore (1956–1974), is a democratically elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka ...

Early life

V.S. Acharya was born on 6 July 1940 in

Udupi Udupi () also known as 'Odipu' () is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of Udupi district, and one of the fastest-growing cities in Karnataka. Udupi is one of the top tourist attractions in Karnataka an ...

in a traditional Shivalli Madhwa Brahmin family. His parents were Vidwan Katte Srinivasa Acharya, a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

scholar & Smt. Krishnaveni Amma. After finishing his graduation in Medicine from the famous

Kasturba Medical College Kasturba Medical College, Manipal and Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru, together known as KMC, are two private medical colleges in the state of Karnataka, India, established in 1953 and 1955. The colleges are constituent units of Manipal A ...

Manipal 300px, The house of T. M. A. Pai located in Manipal; it has since been converted to a museum. Manipal is a suburb and university town within Udupi, in coastal Karnataka, India. Manipal is located five kilometres away from the centre of Udupi C ...

, he started his medical profession by opening a private clinic in Kalmadi,

and earned fame as a good physician in the town. He married a fellow social worker Dr.Shanta Acharya and the couple had 4 sons and 1 daughter.

Political career

Having been associated with the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

from his childhood. He started his political career in the erstwhile

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh) was a Hindutva political party active in India. It was established on 21 October 1951 in Delhi by three founding members: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Balraj Madhok and Deendayal ...

, the predecessor of the BJP. He was first elected as a municipal councillor and then, as president of the Udupi municipal council in 1968. This was the first ever victory of the

Jana Sangh The Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh) was a Hindutva political party active in India. It was established on 21 October 1951 in Delhi by three founding members: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Balraj Madhok and Deendayal ...

in an urban municipality in

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

. The BJP leader

Lal Krishna Advani Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. He is one of the co-founders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak San ...

later remarked that the Jana Sangh victory in the Udupi municipal council in 1968 laid foundation for the BJP rule in South India and particularly in the state of Karnataka. As the youngest municipal president of Udupi, he was hailed for his pro-active role in the development of the town. He remained municipal president for a period of 8 years and the

Swarna River Swarna River (also spelled Suvarna River) is a river located in the Udupi district of Karnataka, India. It is a west-flowing river that originates in the Western Ghats and empties into the Arabian Sea. There is one CWC Hydrological Observation S ...

water supply system, Under ground drainage system, Town roads widening etc.were some of his achievements during this period. Under his presidency Udupi Municipality in 1968 became first in nation to ban carrying night soil by humans. During the

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

(1975–77), he was imprisoned for a period of 19 months. After being released, he unsuccessfully contested the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

elections from Udupi in 1977 and 1980. He was elected as a member of the

Karnataka Legislative Assembly The Karnataka Legislative Assembly (formerly the Mysore Legislative Assembly) is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of the six states in India where the state legislature ...

from Udupi constituency in 1983 and was the floor leader of the BJP Legislature party. He was a Member of the

Karnataka Legislative Council The Karnataka Legislative Council (formerly the Mysore Legislative Council) is the upper house of the state legislature of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of six Indian states with a bicameral legislature; the Legislative Assembly is the lower ho ...

from 1996 until his death. In the BJP-

Janata Dal (Secular) {{Infobox Indian Political Party , party_name = Janata Dal (Secular) , party_logo = , colorcode = {{party color, Janata Dal (Secular) , abbreviation = JD(S) , president = H. D. Deve Gowda , founder ...

coalition government headed by

H.D.Kumaraswamy Haradanahalli Devegowda Kumaraswamy (born 16 December 1959) is an Indian politician and film producer who is serving as the Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel of India since 10 June 2024. He also served as the 18th Chief Minister of Karnat ...

, he was Cabinet minister for Medical Education with additional charge of Animal Husbandry. Following the historic victory of the BJP in Karnataka in the 2008 state assembly elections, he was appointed the Home minister in the

Yeddyurappa Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa (born 27 February 1943), often referred to by his initials BSY, is an Indian politician. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he has served as the chief minister of Karnataka for four terms, an ...

government. He was considered as the second most important leader of the government after the Chief minister and was also the Leader of the House in the legislative council. As home minister, he was credited with the streamlining of administration and modernising of the police force in the state. Later, he was appointed the Higher Education minister in 2010. Acharya was one of the most senior leaders of the BJP in Karnataka and as such, played an important role in the growth of the party in the state. He was president of the

Dakshina Kannada Dakshina Kannada district is located in the states and territories of India, state of Karnataka in India, with its headquarters in the coastal city of Mangaluru. The district covers an area nestled in between the Western Ghats to its east and the ...

district unit of the Jana Sangh (1974–77),

Janata Party The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu. The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...

(1977–80) and BJP (1980–83). Also, he played a major role in the formation of the

Udupi district Udupi district (also Udipi () in Kannada or Odipu () in Tulu language) is an administrative subdivision in the Karnataka state of India, with the district headquarters in the city of Udupi. It is situated in the Canara old north Malabar c ...

in 1998. Known for his honesty, simplicity, dedication, wit and hard work, the soft-spoken Acharya was widely respected in the BJP and across party lines. As a loyal worker of the

, he remained committed to the ideology and discipline of the organisation and inspired thousands of BJP workers and leaders.

Death

He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on 14 February 2012. He was participating in a program when he suddenly collapsed. He died on the way to the hospital. The Chief minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda described him as the conscience keeper of the BJP Government. Various other leaders like L.K. Advani and B.S. Yeddyurappa paid homage to him and praised the services rendered by Acharya to the party and the state.

References

External links

The illustrious journey of V.S.AcharyaV.S.Acharya's Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acharya, V.S. People from Udupi Tulu people Mangaloreans 1940 births 2012 deaths Members of the Karnataka Legislative Council Karnataka MLAs 1983–1985 State cabinet ministers of Karnataka Bharatiya Jana Sangh politicians Indian people imprisoned during the Emergency (India) Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Karnataka Karnataka municipal councillors Janata Party politicians