Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister Doraikkannu no more

The Minister was admitted to the hospital on October 13 with severe breathlessness and tested positive for COVID-19.

Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister R. Doraikkannu died at a private hospital in Chennai late on October 31 after battling COVID-19-related complications. He was 72.

The Kauvery Hospital, in a bulletin said, Mr. Doraikkannu passed away at 11.15 p.m.

Photo: Special Arrangement 

A three-time MLA, he  is survived by his wife, two sons and four daughters.

He was admitted to the hospital on October 13 with severe breathlessness, and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. He was on maximum life support ever since he was admitted to the hospital because of comorbidities.

Mr. Doraikannu, 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 for 25 years besides serving as the president of the District Agriculture Marketing Committee.

He was first elected to Tamil Nadu Assembly from the Papanasam Assembly constituency in 2006. He retained the constituency in 2011 and 2016 Assembly elections.

He was inducted into the State Cabinet led by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in 2016 and continued in the post in the regime of O. Panneerselvam and later in the government of Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

“He possessed native knowledge of the agriculture sector as he was from the Cauvery Delta region,” said a senior officer of the Agriculture department.

Governor condoles death

“I am saddened to know about the demise of Thiru. R. Doraikkannu, Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture, Government of Tamil Nadu,” said Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit in a press release. “He handled Ministry of Agriculture with full dedication and engraved his strong mark. His untimely demise is an irreparable loss to the people of Tamil Nadu and particularly to the AIADMK Party,” he added.

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