Dakshina Kannada (Karnataka),  Veteran Congress leader Oscar Fernandes passed away at Yenepoya hospital in Mangaluru on Monday. Oscar Fernandes, an octogenarian was being treated for a head injury he suffered during practicing yoga at his residence in July.

He was born on March 27, 1941 at Udupi.

Doctors had conducted a surgery on him to remove a clot in his head. However, he never came back from a state of unconsciousness. Fernandes was also undergoing dialysis at regular intervals. He is survived by his wife, son and a daughter.

Fernandes was known as 'brother Oscar' and he was in the close circle of Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi. He served as the union minister of Transport, Road and Highways, Labour and Employment in the UPA government.

A five-term Lok Sabha MP from Udupi parliamentary constituency in Karnataka, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by Congress. Being son of a school teacher, he rose to the highest position of recognition in the Congress party by winning the confidence of the Gandhi family. He also served as Parliamentary Secretary to late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.