Coimbatore: AIADMK MLA R Kanagaraj, 67, representing the Sulur constituency in Coimbatore district, died of cardiac arrest on Thursday.Kanagaraj was reading the morning papers at his house in V Mettur village when he suffered the cardiac arrest around 7.45am, his family said. A member of AIADMK for the past 47 years, he held various posts in the party and was elected as MLA for the first time from Sulur assembly constituency in 2016.Kanagaraj is survived by his wife K Rathinam, 58, party’s Sulthanpet union committee member, son K Shanmugasundaram, Amma Peravai branch secretary of V Mettur village, and daughter R Bama Vijaya who is also a AIADMK functionary. Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami rushed from Salem to pay homage to Kanagaraj. “His demise is a huge loss to AIADMK,’’ he told reporters at the late MLA’s house. With the demise of Kanagaraj, the number of assembly segments without an MLA has risen to 22. He is the fifth MLA to pass away while serving the term since the 2016 assembly election in the state.Deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam, minister for municipal administration SP Velumani, deputy speaker Pollachi V Jayaraman, former Coimbatore MP CP Radhakrishnan from BJP, Kangeyam MLA Thaniyarasu paid homage besides scores of other functionaries and cadres from AIADMK. The final rites were performed later in the day.“He was reading the newspaper and asked for a cup of hot water to drink. Before his wife could bring water, he went unconscious. Doctors from a private hospital rushed home and confirmed that he was dead,’’ a party functionary said.A farmer turned politician, Kanagaraj, who was a Class 8 dropout, joined AIADMK in 1972.A down-to-earth politician, Kanagaraj was known to court controversies with his candid political remarks.

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