A Ganeshamurthi, the 76-year-old Member of Parliament (MP) belonging to the MDMK who was representing Erode in the Lok Sabha, committed suicide over denial of ticket.
Ganeshamurthi, three-time MP representing Erode, was shattered when he was told by party founder Vaiko that he would not figure in the party’s list as a candidate for the upcoming election. Instead, MDMK chief Vaiko nominated his son Durai Vaiko as the candidate from Erode.
Persons close to Ganeshamurthy said though the latter pleaded with Vaiko for one more term, the party founder remained intransigent and this upset the sitting MP.
According to police, Ganeshamurthi had allegedly tried to kill himself after consuming some poisonous tablets on March 24 at his home. He was rushed to a hospital here and later referred to another private institute in Coimbatore.
Hospital authorities said Ganeshamurthy died of cardiac arrest. Vaiko who rushed to Coimbatore said, “He met me twice. We never expected him to make such a decision. He was in a good mood. I cannot believe that he took such a step and passed away. We pay our deep homage.” Expressing shock over the sudden demise of Ganeshamurthi, noted film actress in Tamil and Malayalam Lalitha Sree said, “Political parties should be careful while not granting chances to sitting MPs because some of them are so obsessed with serving the people that they may not be able to withstand the snubbing they receive from the mother parties.”
