Political commentator Cho Ramaswamy, who was a long time associate of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, passed away in Chennai in the early hours of Wednesday.

The 82-year-old artiste was admitted to the Apollo hospital in Chennai last week.

After complaining of chest pain on Saturday, he was shifted to the ICU unit of the hospital.

On Wednesday morning, Cho, as he was more commonly known as, suffered a heart attack and passed away.

Throughout his career spanning several decades, he was known to be very close to Jayalalithaa, and shared a friendly relationship with her.     

In fact, in August last year, a video surfaced that showed Jayalaithaa visiting an unwell Cho in the hospital, and reassuring him that he would get well soon.

(A picture from last year)

Cho was reported to be have been battling a spate of illnesses for a little while now.

Cho had known Jayalalithaa for nearly 60 years, since she was a small kid. She had also written columns for Cho’s magazine, Thuglaq.

Cho played an instrumental role in Jayalalithaa’s political career. He had been a trusted advisor for several decades and shared the common cause of fighting their 'nemesis' M Karunanidhi. 

He had provided her with his counsel and encouragement at crucial moments of her political life. He had also helped her cobble together important alliances.

But he had also been her strongest critic at times, showing that he was no blind supporter. But in spite of this, they continued to share a relationship which transcended politics and public life.