Chennai: Cho Ramaswamy was a feisty political commentator and journalist whose sharp pen and tongue nev-er spared even his best friends. And to term him as an “all-rounder” would be an understatement since he left his imprint in every role he played in his 82-year-long journey-lawyer, actor, journalist, political commentator and an adviser to several politicians.
Cho Ramaswamy, the man who was proposed Narendra Modi for the Prime Minister's job in 2008 even when BJP would not have thought of the idea, breathed his last at 4 am on Wednesday after suffering a cardiac arrest at Apollo Hospital where he was admitted on November 29. The 82-year-old is survived his wife, daughter and son.
The fearless commentator, born on October 5, 1934 and named as Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy had shared confidences with the likes of the late Prime Minister, Chandra Shekhar and incumbent Narendra Modi. He was close to political leaders across the country. His fierce opposition to Emergency of the 1970s made the man with forthright political views a very prominent figure.
He had been suffering from acute breathing problem for a very long time and admitted to hospitals several times. He was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital on December 3 (Saturday) after he complained of chest pain after having been admitted with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD), a chronic lung disease. “He was on ventilator since Tuesday evening and he suffered a cardiac arrest in the small hours of Wednesday. But he could not be revived and he died at 4 am,” hospital sources said.
Cho, a friend, philosopher and guide to J Jayalalithaa, was at the ICU of the same hospital where her end came on December 5. Just two days later, he breathed his last at the same ICU barely 50 metres away from where Jayalalithaa had breathed last.
He has been in and out of the hospital for the past one year, but was never out of action. He shared a very special relationship with the late Jayalalithaa but Cho never let his friendship come in the way of his work as a journalist. The Thuglak magazine had criticised several policies of the governments led by Jayalalithaa.
He was instrumental in bringing the then fledgling Tamil Maanila Congress and DMK together to overthrow the AIADMK Government of Jayalalithaa in 1996, though he never shared the best of relations with DMK chief M Karunanidhi.
