BOMBAY, 4 May 2006 — India’s senior opposition leader and former Federal Minister Pramod Mahajan, who was shot by his younger brother on April 22, succumbed to his injuries yesterday.
Mahajan, 56, general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was shot by Pravin Mahajan after an altercation.
He died at 1610 hours (1040 GMT) after his condition worsened in the last 48 hours. Doctors at Bombay’s Hinduja Hospital, where Mahajan was admitted, said he had developed acute respiratory distress due to three bullet wounds, which claimed his life. He also suffered from multiple organ failure.
“We have to announce with deep regret that Pramod Mahajan, who had been battling for life for the last 12 days, succumbed to his bullet injuries,” hospital chief Pramod Lele told reporters.
“He was suffering from ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) for the past four days, and that is what caused his death,” another senior doctor flanking Lele said. Mahajan underwent four surgeries in the hospital’s intensive care unit, India’s NDTV reported.
Pravin, 46, shot Mahajan three times because he resented his success and felt ignored and humiliated by him.
The younger brother’s lawyer has said his client is “deranged.”
Mahajan was part of the BJP’s “Generation Next” and known for his party organizational skills. “This is a loss not just for the BJP but for the whole country - there were few leaders of his dynamism and his promise,” Yaswant Sinha, former foreign minister in the BJP-led government which lost power 2004, told NDTV television.
Among India’s well-known political figures, Mahajan’s death came as a major setback to the BJP. He was among the top BJP leaders and was tipped to be the next party president.
Mahajan was known as the architect of the party’s recent electoral campaigns. He was also one of the party’s key fundraisers and was often used as a trouble-shooter in internal disputes by the BJP leadership.
Party leaders and functionaries gathered at BJP headquarters in New Delhi where the party flag was lowered at half-mast.
Senior leaders from various political parties offered their condolences over the death of Mahajan who is survived by his wife and two children.
Condoling the death of Mahajan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described him as a “youthful leader who was full of energy and promise”.
In his condolence message, Manmohan said: “I am deeply grieved to learn of the sad and untimely demise of Pramod Mahajan in Bombay.”
