New Delhi: Union minister Sadananda Gowda will take charge as the chemicals and fertilisers minister following the death of veteran BJP leader Ananth Kumar.

Member of Parliament from Bengaluru North, Sadananda Gowda is the current minister for statistics and programme implementation.

The parliamentary affairs ministry  of Ananth Kumar has been given to rural development, panchayat raj and mines minister Narendra Singh.

59-year-old Ananth Kumar was suffering from lung cancer and breathed his last on November 12 at a private hospital in Bengaluru.

He recently had returned to Bengaluru after undergoing treatment in London and New York.

His last rites were performed at Chamarajapet Hindu Rudra Bhoomi in Bengaluru. The mortal remains were kept for people to pay their last respects at National College Grounds in Bengaluru.

Dignitaries such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Amit Shah, leaders Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharam, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu and Karnataka state leaders from all parties paid homage to Ananth Kumar.