Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) MP A Ganeshamurthi, who allegedly attempted suicide recently, died at a hospital in Coimbatore on Thursday morning.
The MDMK leader, who fought the last Lok Sabha elections on a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) ticket from Tamil Nadu's Erode, was hospitalised on March 24 after he allegedly attempted to end his life by consuming pesticide.
After an initial check-up, he was admitted to the ICU and was put on a ventilator, news agency PTI reported. The Lok Sabha MP was later shifted to a private hospital in nearby Coimbatore. He died at 5.05am on Thursday, March 28.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin expressed grief over the demise of Erode MP.
“I was shocked and in pain after knowing the news of Ganeshamurthi's demise,” Stalin said, according to ANI. "He started his political career in the DMK and worked well. Later, he joined Vaiko. Losing Ganeshamurthi is painful and can't be expressed. Condolences to his family, friends and MDMK cadres."
Who was A Ganeshamurthi?
- A Ganeshamurthi, a three-time MP from the Erode constituency, was a senior functionary of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK).
- In 1984, he was made the Erode district secretary of the DMK and was elected on the DMK ticket from the Modakuruchchi Assembly segment in 1989, according to ANI.
- He joined MDMK led by Vaiko after the parent party split in the early 1990s.
- Elected to the Lok Sabha twice on MDMK ticket, first from Palani in 1998 and then from Erode Parliamentary constituency in 2009, Ganeshamurthi had participated in various party agitations and had gone to prison.
- He contested from the Erode parliamentary constituency on the DMK's rising sun symbol in the 2019 general elections.
- Ganeshamurthi was reportedly upset over the party’s refusal to give him a ticket to contest from the Erode seat in the coming Lok Sabha polls. The DMK has fielded its candidate in Erode and has decided to give the Tiruchy seat to the MDMK. Durai Vaiko, son of MDMK general secretary Vaiko, has been named the party’s candidate from Tiruchy.