Update:
Tamil Nadu Member of Parliament from Kanyakumari and businessman H Vasanthakumar who was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai with COVID-19 is reported to be critical. The 70-year-old Congress party leader and businessman who founded Tamil Nadu’s biggest appliances retail chain Vasanth & Co was admitted to Chennai’s Apollo Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment for COVID-19.
The 70-year-old is in a critical condition and is on both the ECMO and a ventilator. He was admitted to the hospital on August 10 after developing symptoms of COVID-19. According to the hospital, he is being treated in the critical care unit by a team of doctors for severe COVID pneumonia. His clinical condition continues to remain critical as of Friday afternoon.
A two-time MLA, Vasanthakumar was first elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly from Nanguneri constituency in 2006, and thereafter in 2016. He, however, resigned from his seat after successfully contesting from Kanyakumari parliamentary constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha Election. He defeated the sitting MP and then Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan by a huge margin.
He is also the brother of former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President and veteran Congress leader Kumari Ananthan. His niece is Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.
Vasanthakumar came from humble beginnings, working as a salesman in the seventies. He is a popular name in Tamil Nadu as he started Vasanth & Co, a premium home appliances and electronic goods dealer, in 1978. In the last few decades, Vasanth and Co grew to be a household name in the state with almost 90 showrooms across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. In addition to the retail chain Vasanth & Co, the politician also runs Vasanth TV channel.
Update: