Former Union Minister and newly-elected Karnataka Congress MLA Siddu B Nyamagouda passed away in a road accident in the wee hours on Monday. The Jamkhandi MLA was returning from Goa to Jamakhandi when he met with an accident near Tulasigeri. He was 67 years old.

He was returning from Goa airport to Jamakhandi at about 4:30 am when the accident happened. The incident occurred after the car he was travelling tried to avoid a lorry and hit a road side parapet wall, District Superintendent of Police Vamshikumar told PTI. Nyamagouda had suffered severe injuries and died instantly, he said.

The lawmaker was in New Delhi and had returned to Goa by flight before he proceeded to his constituency by car, he said.

He is survived by wife, two sons and three daughters.

He was one of the 78 Congress MLAs who were elected to the Karnataka Assembly in May 12 polls. He was also a contender for a ministerial berth in new Congress-JD(S) government headed by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.

Nyamagouda was re-elected from Jamkhandi by defeating his nearest rival BJP’s Shrikanth Subbarao Kulkarni by over 2,500 votes.

Congress MLA Siddu Nyama Gowda passed away in a road accident near Tulasigeri. He was on his way from Goa to Bagalkot. #Karnataka pic.twitter.com/0V8R9spaHh — ANI (@ANI) May 28, 2018

Karnataka Congress tweeted a condolence message after the death of the lawmaker.

"Deepest condolences on the passing away of our senior leader and Jamkhandi MLA, Shri Siddu B Nyamagouda. The Congress party stands by his family in this hour of grief," the tweet read.

Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also condoled his death.

"The untimely death of our party MLA Siddu Nyamagouda has shocked me. Siddu Nyamagouda served as an MLA, an MP and Union Minister. My friend will be missed," Siddaramaiah tweeted in Kannada.

Nyamagouda (Full name: Siddappa Bhimappa Nyamagouda) was born on August 5, 1950 in Jamakhandi in Bijapur district. Besides being elected to Karnataka assembly several times, he also represented Bagalkot in Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996. He was a minister in the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's government at the Centre. He served as a deputy minister, coal in his government, according to his profile available on the Lok Sabha website.