M Natarajan, the husband of V K Sasikala – the aide of the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, died in the wee hours of Tuesday (20 March).

A statement from Gleneagles Global Health City Hospital, where he was admitted after developing health complications, said: "It is with profound grief and sorrow that we announce the sad demise of Natarajan Maruthappa at 1:30 am. Every possible attempt was made to sustain his revival. However, despite our best efforts, he was unable to recover.”

Natarajan, who claimed to be the brain behind Jayalalithaa’s political success and taking control of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), had undergone kidney and liver transplant in October last year. On 16 March, he was rushed to hospital following a chest infection and had been on life support since then. Doctors had performed a tracheostomy on Monday, but it didn’t help the cause.

Natarajan’s body will be kept at his Adayar residence before being taken to his native place in Thanjavur. His wife Sasikala, in Parpana Agraha prison at Bangalore for amassing wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income during Jayalalithaa’s 1991-96 regime, will likely be released on parole to attend the funeral. She has applied for a 15-day parole to attend Natarajan's last rites.