JAYA DEAD, TAMIL NADU MOURNS
After 75 days of hospitalisation, 68-year-old leader breathes her last; loyalist Panneerselvam sworn in as chief minister
Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa passed away on Monday night after a 75-day battle for life at Apollo hospital, bringing to an end an iconic journey of the film star-turned-politician who straddled public life in the southern state for over three decades.
Jayalalithaa, 68, who was admitted to hospital on September 22 with complaints of fever and dehydration, developed complications after she suffered chest congestion, lung infection and heart malfunction.
She suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday and was readmitted to the hospital’s critical care unit. There was hectic activity inside and outside the hospital premises for over an hour on Monday before the convoy carrying the late chief minister’s mortal remains rolled out well past midnight.
Most of the senior doctors left the building as did Jayalalithaa’s adviser Sheela Balakrishnan, who had camped in an adjacent room right through the late CM’s hospitalisation. In a statement after midnight, the hospital explained the sequence from the AIADMK chief ’s hospitalisation, her condition at the time of admission, the complications she suffered and the various lines of treatment administered.
“...The CM suffered a massive cardiac arrest on the evening of the 4th December 2016, even while our intensivist was in her room. The CM was immediately administered resuscitation, and provided ECMO support within the hour. ECMO is the most advanced treatment currently available internationally,” the release said. “However, despite our best efforts, the CM’s underlying conditions rendered her unable to recover and she passed away at 11.30pm today.”
Jayalalithaa’s death came months after she won an unprecedented sixth term in the assembly polls, defeating rival M Karunanidhi’s DMK. AIADMK legislators, who had gone into a huddle at around 11pm after FM Panneerselvam came to the party headquarters, elected him unanimously as the new legislative party leader. Seven days of state mourning were declared and Panneerselvam was sworn in as CM early Tuesday morning.