Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar has said that he has lost a close friend, who was like a family member, about C S Shivalli, Minister for Municipal Administration, who passed away on Friday.
Shivakumar was on his way to attend the last rites of Shivalli at Yaraguppi village.
"I brought him to Congress and got the associate membership of the party for him after meeting Sonia Gandhi. We also tried to make him minister, and the party identified his service. He was more than my brother in our association of around two decades. I am shocked and I cannot believe he is no more," he added.
"I saw him closely, how he came from a humble family, his simplicity and his concern for the poor," he noted.
Refusing to comment on 'B S Yeddyurappa diary' issue, Shivakumar said, he would speak after others stop speaking about it. "I respect the law," he added