Congress MP H Vasanthakumar dies of COVID-19 in Chennai

Kanyakumari MP and Congress leader H Vasanthakumar succumbed to the COVID-19 infection on Friday evening. The Apollo hospital in Chennai announced the demise of the 70-year-old parliamentarian.

Vasanthakumar was hospitalised with the infection on August 10. He passed away at 6.56 pm on Friday, after his condition deteriorated due to COVID complications. 

The hospital, in a statement, said that he was being treated in the critical care unit for COVID pneumonia. But his condition gradually deteriorated, despite all active medical measures. 

He was the working president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and had been an MLA from the Nanguneri Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu. It was after resigning from his MLA post that he contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Kanyakumari. He had defeated incumbent and lone-BJP MP Pon Radhakrishnan. 

Starting his career as a salesman, he went on to found Vasanth&Co, a popular retail chain of home appliances and electronics. His brand had once been synonymous with retail home appliances. 

Vasanthakumar was the younger brother of former TNCC president Kumari Anandan and his niece Tamilisai Soundararajan is the Governor of Telangana.

Condolences for the leader poured in from across the political spectrum.