BENGALURU: The sudden demise of Jayanagar’s sitting MLA B N Vijayakumar at 1 am on Friday shocked residents of Jayanagar, who arrived in large numbers at the BJP leader’s residence to pay their last respects here on Friday. The two-time BJP MLA from Jayanagar passed away at Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences in Jayanagar 9th Block. Sixty-year-old Vijayakumar collapsed after he suffered a massive cardiac arrest at the residence of a voter while he was on a door-to-door campaign with his followers.
He was rushed to Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences within 10 minutes, but doctors found no pulse or blood pressure on preliminary emergency check on him. His heart was resuscitated and an angiogram was performed on him during which a stent was placed to ensure blood flow. But he never regained consciousness, and died at 1 am.
Dr C N Manjunath, Director, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, told The New Indian Express, “He was brought to Jayadeva last evening around 7 pm in an unresponsive state and was pulse-less. With prolonged CPR, he was revived. ECG findings showed a massive heart attack. On mechanical ventilation, he was taken for an angiogram with a normally functioning stent, which was placed a month back, but another artery was fully blocked, which was also stented,” Dr Manjunath said. “But Kumar continued to have repetitive cardiac arrests.
Then, as a last resort, we put him on ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a technique of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are non-functional). His brain was also extensively damaged (due to lack of blood supply and oxygen). He expired at 1 am. He was suffering from high blood pressure for many years,” the doctor said. Vijayakumar had undergone the procedure to insert a stent at the same hospital in early April, and was advised rest — which he did not pay heed to, with elections a little over a week away.
On Friday, Vijayakumar’s body was kept in a coffin in front of his residence in Jayanagar 4th Block. Hundreds of residents thronged to the spot to pay their last respects amid tight security. Several senior leaders cutting across party lines — including BS Yeddyurappa, Prakash Javadekar, Eshwarappa, K J George, Ramalinga Reddy and others — came to pay their last respects.
Yeddyurappa said, “We have lost a very good person who had a good chance to become MLA again. He has made immense contributions to the RSS, and I had never imagined this even in my wildest dreams.”
Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said Vijayakumar was one of his oldest friends. “I have contested twice against him, but there was no personal rivalry between us, there were only ideological differences.”
Most shops in Jayanagar 3rd and 4th block remained shut throughout the day as a mark of respect for their favourite MLA. However, some shopkeepers from Janata Bazaar alleged that BJP workers had forcibly shut their shops in the morning upon receiving news about Vijayakumar’s death.A group of residents from Corporation colony took out a rally near his residence to show their appreciation for the MLA.