Chennai: The AIADMK lawmaker R Kanagaraj, 67, who represented Sulur constituency in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore died this morning reportedly due to a cardiac arrest. He had a cardiac arrest while he was reading the newspaper.
Chief Minister E Palaniswami is expected to go to Coimbatore to pay their last respects along with several other ministers. He was an agriculturalist by profession.
The AIADMK’s strength in the Tamil Nadu assembly has come down to 113 with Mr Kanagaraj’s death, five short of a majority. The total vacancy in Tamil Nadu’s assembly has touched 22.
Out of 22 vacant seats, election to 18 seats has been scheduled for April 18 along with the national election. The survival of the AIADMK government will be determined by this result.
Earlier the opposition DMK has approached the Election Commission and the Supreme Court to hold polls for the other three seats too, saying cases are pending in court and that there is no order obstructing the conduct of polls.