Following the death of renowned satirist and political commentator Cho Ramaswamy, RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy will reportedly take over the reigns of his legendary magazine, Thuglak.
Gurumurthy, who is also a journalist, has been closely associated with The New Indian Express group. He is a convener of the RSS’ Swadeshi Jagran Manch, which seeks to spread the idea of Indian economics and protectionism for Indian businesses.
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 Apollo Hospitals 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.
Narendra Modi also tweeted out his condolence for the late journalist, showering praises about Ramaswamy’s eloquence.
Throughout his career spanning several decades, he was known to be very close to Jayalalithaa, and shared a friendly relationship with her.
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In fact, in August last year, a video had surfaced that showed Jayalaithaa visiting an unwell Cho in the hospital, and reassuring him that he would get well soon.
Cho was reported to be have been battling a spate of illnesses for a little while now.
Superstar Rajinikanth also went to Ramaswamy’s residence to pay condolences to the late journalist.
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.
(With inputs from The News Minute)
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