Cho Ramaswamy, a close friend of Jayalalithaa, dies; PM Narendra Modi calls him 'great nationalist'

Cho Ramaswamy was founder editor of Thuglak magazine and was known as a satirist.

File photo

Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday paid tribute to former Rajya Sabha member Cho Ramaswamy (82), who died at Apollo Hospital in Chennai on Wednesday.

Fondly addressed as Cho, the veteran journalist and political commentator was suffering from illness and breathed his last at around 4 am.

He is survived by wife, son and daughter.

Taking to Twitter, the PM described Cho Ramaswamy as insightful, frank and brilliant. PM Modi further called Cho “a multidimensional personality, towering intellectual, great nationalist”.

Late Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa was a good friend of Ramaswamy and used to seek his views. Notably, Jayalalithaa passed away on Monday and at the same hospital.

Ramaswamy was founder editor of Thuglak magazine and was known as a satirist.

He had acted in many movies and featured with top actors like Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.

Here's what PM Narendra Modi tweeted:

Cho Ramaswamy was a multidimensional personality, towering intellectual, great nationalist & fearless voice who was respected and admired. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 7, 2016

Above all, Cho Ramaswamy was a dear friend. I have been to his annual readers meeting which were an unprecedented editor reader interface. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 7, 2016

Cho Ramaswamy was insightful, frank & brilliant. Pained by his demise. Condolences to his family & countless readers of Thuglak. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 7, 2016

Meanwhile, superstar Rajinikanth and actors Ajith and Suriya were among the first celebrities from Tamil filmdom to pay homage to the well-known actor.

A multi-faceted personality Ramaswamy a law graduate, was also a play writer and a stage actor. He has also directed several movies and was also a screen play writer.