B Sathyanarayana, JD(S) MLA from Sira assembly constituency in Tumakuru district, passed away Tuesday night after suffering for a long period from advanced chronic liver disease, the hospital where he was undergoing treatment said. He was 69 years old. 

"B Sathyanarayana, MLA from Sira Constituency, Karnataka who was under treatment at Manipal Hospital, Old Airport Road for a prolonged illness passed away today at 10.45 p.m," Manipal Hospital said in a statement issued late on Tuesday.

"He was suffering for a long period of time with advanced chronic liver disease. He was in a very critical state and was under treatment at the intensive care unit for secondary to septicaemia with multisystem organ failure," it said. Doctors said he had tested negative for COVID-19.

Earlier on Tuesday, confusion had prevailed over his health as several political leaders including some ministers condoled his death, even as the hospital had maintained that he was at that time in a very critical state. Health Minister Sriramulu and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar condoled his death even though Manish Rai, Director of Manipal Hospital, maintained at the time that the legislator was still in a critical condition. 

JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda expressed his condolence for Sathyanarayana's death and said they shared friendship for over three decades. 

Satyanarayana had defeated Congress leader TB Jayachandra to become the MLA of Sira in the 2018 Assembly elections. This was his third stint as a legislator in the Karnataka Assembly. 

He had been receiving treatment in Manipal Hospital for a long period. It is the same hospital where Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah are currently hospitalised after testing positive for the coronavirus. 

The state is currently grappling with over 73,000 active COVID-19 cases of which 34,021 are in Bengaluru.