NEW DELHI:
Former Union Minister E Ahamed, who collapsed Tuesday morning in parliament, has died. He was 78.
Ahamed was admitted at Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital after he suffered a cardiac arrest while both houses of parliament were being jointly addressed by President Pranab Mukherjee. At around 2.15 p
m, Ahamed was shifted to the RML trauma centre’s ICU where he was put on ventilator. Ahamed died at 2:15 am at RML hospital.
“E Ahamed has passed away at 2:15 am. His body has been taken to AIIMS hospital for embalming (a method to preserve a corpse from decaying) as the facility is not available at RML,” a senior RML doctor said.
Ahamed, who has served as Minister of State for External Affairs in Dr Manmohan Singh’s government, represented Kerala in the Lok Sabha and was the president of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).
News of his death was preceded by high drama as Ahamed’s family earlier alleged that they were not allowed to meet him by hospital authorities.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi, besides other party leaders visited the hospital late on Tuesday night to enquire about Ahamed’s health. E Ahamed represented the Malappuram Lok Sabha constituency from Kerala.
