AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

NT Bureau
Chennai, Sept 25:

        Former Union Minister and past-BJP president Jana Krishnamurthy died at a private hospital here after a prolonged illness. He was 79. He is survived by wife, two sons and three daughters.

        Krishnamurthy who was suffering from kidney failure was admitted to a private hospital, where he went into coma about a month back. He never regained consciousness and his end came at 10.15 am today, BJP sources said. Opposition leader L K Advani who visited the ailing leader at the hospital last week during his two-day visit to the State is likely to arrive later this evening to pay his last respects.

        Born in Madurai, Jana Krishnamurthy was an RSS activist. He started his career as an advocate. After a request from RSS leader Guruji Golvalkar, he quit law to plunge into politics. He had worked closely with senior leaders like A B Vajpayee and Advani among others.

        He had played a key role in the growth of Bharathiya Jan Singh and BJP in Tamilnadu. Krishnamurthy had occupied various posts in both national and state BJP. He was appointed as general secretary of the party in 1983 and became its vice president in 1985.

        In 2001, he took charge as BJP president. When the party formed the Central Ministry in 2002, Krishnamurthy was appointed as Union Law Minister. He resigned his post owing to illness.

        His body was being brought to his residence at Kilpauk for public homage. Senior BJP leaders, including State president L Ganesan, paid their last respect to Krishnamurthy.