CHENNAI: Cho Ramaswamy, journalist, political analyst, comedian and former Rajya Sabha MP, who was the first person to moot the idea that Modi should be the prime ministerial candidate passed away in Chennai’s Apollo hospital on an early Wednesday morning.
Cho Ramaswamy, who was also a good friend of the deceased Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, was suffering from a respiratory problem passed away due to cardiac arrest. He is survived by wife, son and daughter.
PM Narendra Modi condoled the demise of the 82-year-old political commentator, who passed away at around 4:00 am on Wednesday.
In a tweet, Modi said:
Cho Ramaswamy was insightful, frank & brilliant. Pained by his demise. Condolences to his family & countless readers of Thuglak.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 7, 2016
He founded and edited the political magazine Thuglak magazine and was fearless in criticising the ruling government in the state or at the centre.
A multi-faceted personality Ramaswamy had several laurels in his wreath like an actor, comedian, character actor, editor, film director and lawyer.
He has written, directed and acted in more than 15 Tamil plays which have been performed over 5,000 times.
He has acted in 89 movies and featured with top actors like Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, Jayalalithaa, among others, besides directing five movies and writing the screenplay for another five films.
With inputs from PTI and ANI