Tamil Nadu Congress Committee working president and Congress MP from Kanyakumari H Vasanthakumar died of coronavirus on Friday evening while undergoing treatment at a private hospital. Vasanthakumar was admitted to an Apollo Hospital in Chennai on August 10. He was treated in the critical care unit by a team of doctors for severe COVID Pneumonia. The doctors kept all their efforts, despite all active medical measures, the health condition of Vasanthakumar deteriorated due to COVID-19 complication. A medical bulletin issued by the hospital said that, "It is with profound grief that we announce the sad demise of H Vasanthakumar at 6.56 PM today."

Vasanthakumar represented the Kanyakumari constituency in Lok Sabha. First-time MP after winning the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Vasanthakumar had previously worked as the MLA of Nanguneri in the Tamil Nadu assembly from 2006-2011 and 2016-2019. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he tasted success by defeating BJP leader Pon Radhakrishnan.

Vasanthakumar is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, who is Vasanthakumar's niece condoled the death of the leader. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami, Rahul Gandhi and various others took to their social media to express their grief.

PM Modi tweeted, "Saddened by the demise of Lok Sabha MP Shri H. Vasanthakumar Ji. His strides in business and social service efforts were noteworthy. During my interactions with him, I always saw his passion for Tamil Nadu’s progress. Condolences to his family and supporters. Om Shanti."

Palaniswami said, "Vasanthakumar who started his career as a salesman came up in life through his hard work. He did excellent service for the educational and economic growth of the poor and earned the love of the people in his public life.

Congress in a statement said that "We are deeply saddened by the untimely demise of Shri H. Vasanthakumar. A staunch Congressman, the true leader of the people, and beloved MP. He will be sorely missed by all members of the Congress party and his followers. Our prayers are with his family in this time of grief."

Rahul Gandhi tweeted as, "The news of Kanyakumari MP, Shri H Vasanthakumar’s untimely demise due to COVID-19 has come as a shock. His commitment to the Congress ideology of serving the people will remain in our hearts forever. Heartfelt condolences to his friends and family members."