Raipur: Former Chief Minister of Chhhattisgarh Ajit Jogi passed away in Raipur on Friday at the age of 74 after fighting a prolonged illness. The announcement of the political veteran's demise was made by his son Amit Jogi who took to micro-blogging site Twitter and informed about his father's death.


As per reports, Ajit Jogi had suffered two cardiac arrests earlier in the day and later succumbed to the illness. After two consecutive cardiac arrests, doctors termed his health condition as 'extremely critical'.

Ajit Jogi was undergoing medical treatment at a private hospital in Raipur after suffering a cardiac arrest at his residence in the state capital of Chhattisgarh earlier this month.

The bureaucrat-turned politician, Jogi had slipped into comatose on May 10 and the team of doctors monitoring him had stated that his condition was critical. As per Dr. Sunil Khemka, Hospital Director, oxygen was not been reaching brain for some time, causing brain damage. The condition is called 'hypoxia'.

A report by doctors on May 10 stated that Jogi's neurological activities were almost nil. His heartbeat was normal and blood pressure was 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.

Jogi led the Congress government in the state till November 2003 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power after first Assembly polls in the mineral-rich state.

Jogi quit the Congress in June 2016 and floated a regional party. He has largely been living in political isolation after the Congress stormed to power in state in 2018 and his bete noire Bhupesh Baghel became the Chief Minister of the mineral-rich state.