Tamil Nadu CM M.G. Ramachandran returns to India after kidney transplant in US

Updated: July 20, 2026 03:56 pm IST By: N. Sai Charan Location: CHENNAI

It was October 1984, one of the most turbulent phases for India and Tamil Nadu. Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) was admitted to a private hospital in Madras after a health setback. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated.

MGR’s health deteriorated, and he was flown to the United States on November 6, 1984, on a chartered Air India flight that was fully stocked with emergency hospital equipment. He was admitted to the Downstate Medical Centre in Brooklyn, New York. At the time of admission, he was running a temperature, breathing through a tube, had a non-functioning kidney, and was not fully conscious after suffering a stroke, according to a report in The Hindu archives.

He underwent a successful kidney transplant surgery and slowly recovered from the effects of the stroke. He was able to walk. At the time of discharge, he was undergoing speech therapy from a specialist who later travelled with him to Madras.

The Hindu’s New York correspondent reported in detail on the events that took place and the personalities who met MGR on his last day in Brooklyn. Before leaving for Madras (now Chennai) on February 2, 1985, MGR said he was returning home and was eager to meet the people of Tamil Nadu, to whom he owed a great debt of gratitude.

In a statement issued before his departure, MGR said, “I look forward to being at their service once again.” He also conveyed his thanks, and his wife V.N. Janaki’s (who later became the first woman Chief Minister of the State) gratitude, to the doctors, administrators and paramedical staff at the Downstate Medical Centre for taking good care of him.

“My stay here has enabled me to go back home with a renewed spirit of dedication to serve the people whom I love the most,” his statement said. His improved state of health was indicated by the fact that he travelled back home on a regular commercial Air India flight.

Rousing Reception

In Tamil Nadu, preparations were underway, both by the State government and AIADMK members, to celebrate the homecoming of the Chief Minister. A mammoth reception was planned to mark his first public appearance after nearly three months.

S. Muthusamy, the incumbent Minister for Housing in the DMK government, who was then an AIADMK strongman from Erode and serving as Transport Minister in MGR’s Cabinet, oversaw transport arrangements to the reception venue at Mohite Stadium in St. Thomas Mount, two kilometres from the Madras airport.

Bus services of the erstwhile Periyar Transport Corporation and the Pattukottai Azhagiri Transport Corporation from various parts of the State, including Cuddalore, Vriddachalam, Chidambaram, and Kancheepuram, were arranged for the event.