Jayaraman Anbazhagan

Jayaraman Anbazhagan (10 June 1958 – 10 June 2020) was a politician in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, elected to the state assembly for three terms from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party. He is most publicly remembered as the first Indian MP to die in the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was born in Chennai and continued his political life entirely under the umbrella of DMK. He served as the secretary in charge of the party's organization in the Chennai West region. He first entered the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from Theagaraya Nagar constituency in the 2001 elections. He returned to parliament from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni constituency in 2011, retained the same seat in 2016 and represented this constituency until his death.

Even though he did not receive a ministerial post, he was seen as a figure who was known for his harsh and effective speeches in the parliament and was closely loyal to his party.

Besides politics, he also took up the cinema business; He produced director Ameer's 2013 Tamil action film Aadhi Bhagavan, and was also involved with the film Yaaruda Mahesh in the same year.

At the beginning of June 2020, he was admitted to Rela Institute and Medical Center in Chennai with the diagnosis of COVID-19. As his breathing difficulties increased, he was placed on respiratory support in the intensive care unit. He passed away on the morning of June 10, 2020, on his 62nd birthday. His death sparked widespread publicity as the pandemic's first casualty among elected representatives in the country.