E Ahamed passes away after cardiac arrest in Parliament; House to be adjourned on Thursday

New Delhi: Former Union minister and Indian Union Muslim League leader E Ahamed passed away early Wednesday after he suffered a cardiac arrest on Tuesday.

The senior Kerala MP had collapsed in Parliament's Central Hall yesterday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences in a message posted on Twitter. Describing  Ahamed as a veteran political leader who served the nation with great diligence, the PM said the IUML president's role in deepening India's ties with West Asia was notable.

Ahamed's death had fuelled speculations over the presentation of the much-awaited Union Budget 2017 today. As per convention, the House adjourns for a day in case a sitting member passes away. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, later tweeted that he would present the Budget. The House will not function tomorrow as a mark of respect to Ahamed, announced Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who provided an obituary to the deceased lawmaker before the start of the Budget Session. 

The MP died at 2:15 am at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where he was admitted yesterday and put on artificial life support.

"Ahamed died despite being tried to revive. He was on life support system since Tuesday evening," sources told IANS.

Ahamed's funeral will take place in Kerala tomorrow.

Ahamed, a former Minister in the UPA government and a longtime IUML MP from Kerala, was admitted to RML after he fell unconscious in Parliament's Central Hall during President Pranab Mukherjee's address.

The 78-year-old Ahamed has served as Minister of State for External Affairs in the UPA government and has been a Lok Sabha member from Malappuram in Kerala since 1991.

Immediately after the news of Ahamed's death spread among the political class, many of the leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Kerala Congress leader and parliamentarian KC Venugopal visited the hospital post midnight.

Ahamed was initially admitted to the emergency department of RML. However, as he showed no signs of revival, doctors attempted to revive him by putting him on the life support system after shifting him to the trauma centre of the hospital.

A team of three doctors, consisting head of cardiology Neeraj Pandit, head of anaesthesia Rajesh Sood and In-charge of Nursing facility RS Tonk, has been constituted to monitor Ahamed's condition.

(With Agency inputs)