Mumbai (PTI): "Anupamaa" actor Nitesh Pandey died early Wednesday morning, his brother-in-law and producer Siddharth Nagar confirmed. He was in his 50s.

The actor, also known for roles in the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Om Shanti Om" and Dibakar Banerjee's "Khosla Ka Ghosla", was in Igatpuri for a shoot.

"He went to Igatpuri yesterday morning for a shoot and he died around 1.30 am. The news is true (about his demise). I am shocked, we spoke about two-three days ago and how this has happened suddenly," Nagar told PTI.

According to his "Anupamaa" co-star Rushad Rana, Pandey suffered a cardiac arrest.

The last rites of the actor will be held in Mumbai. Pandey is survived by his wife Arpita and a son.

Actor Ashwin Mushran mourned Pandey's death. "Lost a friend and a genuinely lovely person today. I'm so sorry to hear of your passing #niteshpandey. We spoke a few days ago and you said 'Let's meet Ashwin...Nahin toh zindagi bhar phone par baat karenge' (otherwise we will keep talking over phone all our lives) I guess we won't now. Travel to the other side in peace my friend," the actor said.

Commenting on the deaths of Pandey, Vaibhavi Upadhyaya and Aditya Singh Rajput, filmmaker Hansal Mehta said the industry has lost three young actors within a span of three-four days.

"Rest In Peace dear colleagues. This is such an unkind time. Prayers with their grieving families," he said.

Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit remembered Pandey as a "brilliant actor and a fun loving person".

"His demise is a great loss to the film and Tv industry. My heartfelt condolences to his entire family and near ones. Om shanti," he said.

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Mysuru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who visited his constituency Varuna in Mysuru district for the first time since taking charge as the head of the state government in May, declared that he would enthusiastically serve the people till his last breath.

Siddaramaiah, who landed at the Suttur Helipad in Nanjangud taluk on Saturday, was accorded a warm welcome by his supporters. He also attended a program at Biligere in Varuna, to thank the voters who ensured his victory in the recent Assembly election. Addressing the gathering, the CM said, “This was the last election I would contest in, but I will remain active in politics till I die as it would give me an opportunity to serve the citizens.”

Siddaramaiah further said, “The great seers of our land like Basavanna always lived true to their words. Keeping them as my model, I took oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Basava Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Basavanna,” adding, “The post of a chief minister, however, is by no means a position of luxury. I consider it an opportunity for me to bring in improvement in the lives of the people of Karnataka.”

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Referring to his earlier work as Karnataka CM, he said, “There were schemes in 2013 for the welfare of all people without distinction between communities, region or religion. Our government, in its current tenure, will be even more efficient in working for the welfare of the people and our schemes will be more fruitful than those during the earlier tenure.”

Speaking about the guarantees promised by the Congress government, Siddaramaiah stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had said that the Congress would fail at implementing the promises leading the state to bankruptcy and also pointed out that the state government had implemented all the five guarantees. “When the Congress government promised schemes that would benefit the lower and middle classes, PM Modi and the Central government should have supported us in our efforts. Our PM, unfortunately, is not considering an uplift of the lower and middle classes worthy of his efforts,” said Siddaramaiah, also hitting out at the BJP for ‘continuing its convention of confusing the people with its horde of lies’.

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