Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister R. Doraikkannu died at a private hospital in Chennai on Saturday after battling complications from COVID-19. He was 72.
Kauvery Hospital said in a bulletin that Mr. Doraikkannu passed away at 11.15 p.m. A three-time MLA, Mr. Doraikkannu is survived by wife, two sons and four daughters.
The Minister was admitted to the hospital on October 13 with severe breathlessness and then tested positive for COVID-19.
He was on maximum life support ever since he was admitted to the hospital because of co-morbidities.
Doraikkannu, a native of Rajagiri near Papanasam in Thanjavur district, was the secretary of the AIADMK’s Thanjavur (North) District unit. He also functioned as the secretary of the party’s Papanasam union unit for 25 years, besides serving as the president of the district agriculture marketing committee.
He was first elected to the Assembly from Papanasam in 2006. He retained the seat in 2011 and 2016. He was inducted into the Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, in 2016 and continued in the post in the government of O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
“He possessed the native knowledge of agriculture as he was from the Cauvery delta region,” said a senior official of the Department of Agriculture.
