Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa breathed her last at a private hospital in Chennai on Monday, sending shock waves across the state and leaving the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam (AIADMK), which she has been heading for over a quarter of a century, literally orphaned.
The 68-year-old leader, who was admitted to the Apollo hospital on September 22 with “fever and dehydration”, breathed her last at 11.30 pm, the hosptal said in a statement.
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Jayalalithaa, one of the powerful chief ministers India has ever seen, had been responding well to the treatment untill she suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening. As her health deteriorated, the chief minister was placed under ECMO (Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation).
ECMO is used as a life support system in some patients who suffer a cardiac arrest. It is used as a rescue therapy when the patient is found to be unresponsive to conventional CPR measures. Specifically, ECMO is resorted to in situations where it can be rapidly implemented and when the attending medical personnel believe that the suspected cause of the cardiac arrest is potentially reversible.
Her body will be kept at the Rajaji Hall for people to pay their respects, said the AIADMK. Tamil Nadu government has announced seven-day state mourning and declared three-day holiday for all schools and colleges in the state.
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The hospital had earlier announced that the chief minister had fully recovered and could be discharged at anytime. Apollo Hospitals Chairman Dr C Prathap Reddy had said Jayalalithaa was in good health and was speaking using a valve attached to the tracheostomy tube.
The state had been on a prayer mode since her hospitalisation with special poojas conducted in temples across the state by the party workers and ardent 'Amma' loyalists for her speedy recovery.
Though the hospital issued press statements in regular interval, social media was abuzz with rumours about her health condition especially after Dr Richard John Beale from London Bridge Hospital arrived in Chennai on September 30 to examine the chief minister.
Besides Beale, a team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in New Delhi had also visited the Apollo hospital to assess the health situation of Jayalalithaa.
