Hyderabad: Renowned multilingual actor Sarath Babu, who had been battling a severe illness, passed away on Monday afternoon at a private hospital in Hyderabad. His family members informed the media about his demise.

Sarat Babu's health had started deteriorating in the first week of April, leading to his admission to a private hospital in Bengaluru. Despite showing slight signs of recovery, he was later transferred to the 'AIG' hospital in Hyderabad, where the treatment continued. Regrettably, the 71-year-old veteran actor succumbed to his illness on Monday afternoon, as the treatment proved unsuccessful.

Sarath Babu, who entered the silver screen with the Telugu film 'Rama Rajyam' released in 1973, acted in more than 200 films in a film journey spanning 4 decades. He was recognized not only in Telugu but also in Kannada and Tamil cinema. His performances in movies like 'Shakti,' 'Ranachandi,' 'Kampana,' 'Gaya,' 'Tulsi Dal,' 'Hridaya-Hridaya,' 'Neela,' 'Nammejamanu,' and 'Amrita Varshini' garnered him immense popularity in the Kannada film industry.

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New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.

BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.

Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.

Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.

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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."

"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.

The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.

The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.

Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".

"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."