Former Union Minister Venur Dhananjay Kumar passed away in Mangaluru on Monday. He was suffering from a prolonged illness. He was 67 years old and is survived by his wife Vanitha and two children Pavithra and Parinith.

Lawyer by profession, V Dhananjay Kumar was elected as an MLA for Karnataka government before he became an MP.

Dhananjay Kumar held the civil aviation and tourism portfolios as a Cabinet Minister under Atal Bihari Vajpayee (16 May 1996 – 2 June 1996). Later, he handled finance (1999-2000) and textiles (2000-2002) portfolios as a Minister of State (MoS).