NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will undergo today a bypass surgery that is expected to keep him out of work for up to four weeks, official sources said yesterday. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, given the additional charge of the Finance Ministry, is likely to discharge his duties in his absence.
The surgery would be conducted by well-known cardio-thoracic surgeon Ramakant Panda, vice chairman of the Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai, at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here. Doctors said they would prefer a “less risky” beating heart surgery rather than a bypass surgery.
“The general mood is for beating heart surgery. But no decision has been taken so far. Most tests have been done,” K. Srinath Reddy, chairman of the prime minister’s medical panel, told IANS. Beating heart surgery is a way to perform surgery without stopping the heartbeat. Surgeons stabilize that part of the heart which they operate. Surgery on a beating heart is said to reduce the risk of complications. The recovery is also said to be quicker.
Manmohan Singh, discharged from AIIMS on Thursday following an angiography a day earlier, was readmitted yesterday after he felt uneasy at his 7 Race Course Road residence in the morning. He is at the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit.
Politicians cutting across party lines wished Manmohan Singh a speedy recovery. “We have been worried for him,” said L.K. Advani of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Communist Party of India’s D. Raja added: “I am slightly concerned about it. I wish things go well.”
Tests over two days revealed that the 76-year-old, who became prime minister in May 2004 heading a Congress-led government, had multiple arterial blockages. Following his angiography on Wednesday, doctors made it clear that the prime minister did not face any medical emergency. He himself said he felt no discomfort while the tests were carried out.
Even at this age, Manmohan keeps himself fit doing yoga, is conscious of his diet and packs a punishing 18-hour work schedule despite having undergone a bypass surgery 18 years ago. “The prime minister could have carried on for a few more days but his family felt the surgery should happen at the earliest,” a senior official told IANS.
— With input from agencies
