ANANTAPUR: Puttaparthi Sathya Sai Baba's younger brother and senior Congress leader R V Janakiramaiah (76) died at the Sathya Sai Super Specialities Hospital in Puttaparthi on Friday.

 

He is survived by his wife and three children. A key member of Sathya Sai Central Trust, Janakiramaiah played a vital role in the development of Puttaparthi as a spiritual centre.

 

Janakiramaiah was hospitalised at the super specialities hospital since September 26 after he suffered a massive heart stroke. Doctors kept him under observation in the ICU for the last three weeks and provided artificial respiration, hospital sources said.

 

Efforts to revive him failed to bear fruit and due to his old age, doctors did not favour an open-heart surgery.

 

Sai Baba visited his brother on Thursday after his condition was said to be serious.