MUMBAI: Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Pramod Mahajan, who was shot and injured by his younger brother Pravin Mahajan on Saturday, continued to be in a critical condition, according to the medical bulletin issued by the Hinduja Hospital at 5 p.m. Although earlier in the day, hospital authorities had reported a slight improvement in his condition and said that Mr. Mahajan would be operated on Monday morning, the situation changed by late evening. Mr. Mahajan was taken in around 8 p.m. for what was reported to be a "minor surgical procedure."

Still on life support

During the earlier update, Dr. Anupam Verma, Director (Administration) of the Hinduja Hospital, said that the oozing of blood from liver that caused concern had reduced significantly. Mr. Mahajan had so far been given around 30 bottles of blood. He also said that Mr. Mahajan continued to be on life support medication and on a ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit.

Risk explained

Dr. Verma said that if his condition stabilised doctors would conduct the surgery in the presence of a team of doctors from the United Kingdom to "remove the packs which were put in to contain the bleeding of the liver."

He said Dr. Mohammed Rela and his team from the U.K., who flew in at the behest of the patient's family, were also of the same view as the team of doctors at the Hinduja Hospital. The procedure and the element of risk in conducting the surgery had been explained to the family members.

The news of a slight improvement in Mr. Mahajan's condition was welcomed by scores of party workers, who kept a vigil near the hospital.

His son, Rahul Mahajan, told the media that his father recognised him.

All through the day on Sunday, a stream of visitors continued to pour in to meet Mr. Mahajan's family and to express their prayers for his recovery. Prominent among them were Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Leaders, stars visit

Other prominent political leaders who visited the hospitalwere BJP leaders Jaswant Singh and Arun Jaitley, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and Sharad Yadav from the Janata Dal (United).

From the film world, Dharmendra, Anupam Kher, Raza Murad, Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar visited Mr. Pramod Mahajan.

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