Ajit Jogi, First Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Passes Away at 74

Following a heart attack, Ajit Jogi was hospitalised on 9 May, after which he had slipped into comatose.

File image of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/@ajitjogijcc)

Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam

Ajit Jogi, the first Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, passed away at the age of 74 on Friday, 29 May, his son Amit Jogi said. The news of his demise was announced by his son Amit on Twitter.

“A young 20-year-old state of Chhattisgarh has lost its father today. Chhattisgarh has not just lost its leader, but both the state and I have lost a father. He has left behind a family of 2.5 crore people and has united with the gods. A support system to the poor and Chhattisgarh’s beloved son has left us today,” Amit Jogi tweeted.

Ajit Jogi was hospitalised on 9 May, following a heart attack, after which he had slipped into comatose on 10 May. Back then, the hospital’s Director Dr Sunil Khemka had said that oxygen had not been reaching Jogi’s brain for some time, causing damage to it.

Jogi's neurological activities were almost nil and his blood pressure was being controlled by drugs.

Jogi, who quit the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) to join politics, was an MLA from the Marwahi region. He became the first Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh when it was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) defeated the Congress in the first elections to the Assembly in 2003. Due to differences with Congress leaders, Jogi formed the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) in 2016 and became its head.

(With inputs from IANS.)